Campfire Stories
by FABCHICKXO
Summary: Full summary's on the inside! Basically a story where Manny, Sid and Diego tell Ellie and the possums about the way they met around a campfire built by Sid! I do NOT own Ice Age! Read and Review please! :
1. Once Upon a Time

**Hey! Its me again! Well, the full summary for this story is, Manny, Sid and Diego basically tell Ellie, Crash and Eddie of their journey on how they met up. Um. It might be kind of weird, but all of us have seen it on TV of when some one tells a story in first person, but it switches back into third person. It may sound kind of weird. But I think that you will like it… well I hope you do! ; )**

**Anyway, I have also added in some extra scenes so it's not just me retelling the whole movie! Anyways, I really hope that you enjoy this story! Please review!**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter One-Once upon a time_

The summer air became cool and crisp at night. The heard was sitting in a circle inside of their cave together. All around a fire built by, you guessed it- Sid, Lord of the Flame. Sid walked in to the cave, tossing a few more twigs into the fire, Diego and The Possums watched the fire increase in size as you could hear the twigs crackle in the hot flame. Sid sat down next to Diego, who was lying near the possums. "Hey," Sid greeted.

"Hi. So, I guess you found more sticks." Diego said.

"Lord of the Flame has never failed yet." Sid said, puffing his chest out, proudly.

"Why do you call yourself that?" Ellie came up behind the two, along with Manny. In Ellie's presence the twins looked up in unison, taking their eyes out of the trance of staring into the flames. Manny sat down next to Sid, and Ellie sat next to Manny, creating the perfect little campfire story.

"Ugh. Well, It's a long history about me. But I-" Sid was interrupted from telling the herd his whole autobiography, (thank god,) with a question from Crash.

"Forget that, the real question would be how did a mammoth and sloth become best friends with a saber?" He laughed.

"That's an even longer one." Manny rolled his eyes.

"Hey! I like stories," Eddie leaned on his palms, "tell us." Manny, glanced at Diego, who glanced at Sid, who looked from Manny, to Diego to Sid. Finally after a moments silence, the mammoth spoke up.

"Alright, long story it is…" He said, watching the possums situate themselves, lying on their stomachs. Ellie just looked at Manny curiously. Diego also looked at Sid and sighed.

"This will be a long story." He grinned, his green eyes, glowing in the dark.

"Yeah. But I guess we can tell it."

The mammoth started the tale, "Well, It was about noon, I'm guessing. We were up north, during the migration. Sid was probably..."

"Still sleeping." He interjected.

"What a surprise." Eddie added in.

"And… I dunno where Diego was." Manny looked at the tiger curious.

"I was with my pack, we were watching the migration… and probably drooling." Diego grinned.

"Yeah… so anyway…"Manny continued.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Look out, look out!" A voice yelled.

"You're going the wrong way!" Another animal yelled.

"The other way!" Yet, another voice.

"Crazy mammoth!" Another animal who just avoided getting hit in the head with his tusks yelled.

Manny rolled his eyes. Not caring at all what these stupid animals had to say to him. If they had something to say, they should confront him, and say it to his face.

"Hey do the world a favor!" _A confrontation, this should be entertaining. _Manny recalled thinking to himself. "Move your issues off the road!" He looked down at a pudgy animal with a stubby trunk. _Okay, confrontations are one thing, but this guy is just plain rude. _

Manny glowered down at the stupid animal. "If my trunk was that small- I wouldn't draw my attention to myself pal!" He came eye to eye with that stupid , grey… whatever.

His threatening tone seemed to work, the animal trembled, backing off. "Ah, give me a break. We- we've been waddling all day." He gestured to his mate and two little children who peered around from behind his mate. If it weren't for the fact that the guy had a family, Manny would have probably showed this guy a lesson, but instead he softened his tone.

"Oh go ahead. Follow the crowd." He began walking-again in the wrong direction; "it'll be quieter when you're gone!" He called over his shoulder.

"Ehh, c'mon." The plump grey animal spoke to his mate. Looking ahead to make sure the mammoth was out of ear shot, "if he wants to freeze to death, let him."

Manny had to re-think to himself, why he didn't teach that guy a lesson or two, shaking it off. He supposed that he had done the right thing. He sighed continuing to walk, despite all of the objection the animals were voicing. "I don't need this." He mumbled to himself, changing direction.

"Are you crazy?" A wolf shouted, just missing Manny's foot as he stepped out of the migration, heading to the side. Manny- again- ignored the comment.

He walked and walked for about five minutes. Until he found an apple tree. There were still four apples and despite the big breakfast he had earlier, he allowed himself an early lunch. Hey- if this Ice Age was coming, the apples would just freeze anyway. After eating the apples, he kept on walking.

Sid felt the tree he was sleeping in shake, vibrating from the footsteps of the migrating group. Snore… snore… and ahh! He caught himself just before he fell off of the tree branch. "Hey-hey, I'm up, I'm up!" He struggled, pulling himself up from the branch, to his feet, now standing on the branch. "Hey, rise and shine everybody! Huh? Zack? Marshall? Bernie? Uncle Fungus?" He checked everyone's branch, shrugged and slid down the trunk, now on the ground. "Where is everybody? C'mon guys! We're goanna miss the mi-mi-mi…gration." Sudden reality struck him. Of what had happened, the past two migrations, counting this one… three.

"They left with out me." He put his hands on his hips, defensively. "They do this every year!" He fisted his paws. Then whined, "why? Doesn't anyone love me?" He spotted a near by mammal waddling-a fellow late migratory! "Isn't there anyone who cares about Sid the sloth?" He asked out loud, expecting some sympathy from this animal. But all the animal did was grunt and waddle away hurriedly.

Shrugging it off, supposing he could do what he had done for the past few years. "Alright, I guess I'll just go by myself." He said, stepping… then… "ahw… Sick!" And realizing what he had just stepped into. "Hey wide body curve it next time! Ahh, yuck oh." He tried whipping away the uhh… poop stuck to his foot on the ground. No good. Oh! The he spotted up ahead some rhinos surrounded by what looked like a grassy area.

"I can't believe it! Fresh, wild greens! Frank, where did you ever…" Carl, the rhino gasped. Looking at the beautiful salad prepared for him.

"Go ahead, dig in!" Frank said, modestly.

"A dandelion!" Carl gasped a second time. "I thought the frost wiped 'em all out." He smiled.

"All but one!" Frank exclaimed. The rhinos' sudden joy became decimated with the sloth suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Muttering to himself,

"Oh this makes me so… oh I wanna- ah yuck!" Sid exclaimed, shaking his foot. Trying to get all of the stuff off. Wiping it all over the rhino's delectable salad. Their eyes widening. "Ah, this had definitely not been my day I mean- ya know what I'm sayin' buddy?" Sid continued shaking his foot, this time little pieces of poop shaking off, hitting Carl in the face. Sid thought of a fact to tell the rhinos to talk. "Hey, you rhinos, you have really tiny brains, did you know that? No, it's just a fact… no offence. Ah- you probably don't even know what I'm talking about." Sid laughed to himself deeply when something caught his eye.

"Oh! Yumm-o!" He picked the small yellow flower up, Carl gasped. "A dandelion, must be the last one of the season!" Sid commented, then ate the yellow flower off of its stem. "Mmmm."

"Carl-" Frank's voice rose, high pitched.

"Easy Frank. "

"He ruined… our salad." Sid looked down, and discovered what he had done to the salad that he had mistaken for a large patch of grass.

"Oh, my mistake, that was my mistake fellas." Sid attempted to sweet talk his way out, but that apparently proved to fail. Sid backed up as the two massive rhinos stepped forward.

"No, no seriously, let me take care of this. I won't- wont-" Sid tripped over a log, looking to his side and saw a few pine cones laying on the ground next to him, an idea struck him. "Oh what is this? Pinecones! Oh my goodness, they're my favorite!" Sid said enthusiastically, grabbing one and crunching it between his teeth. "Mmm. Delicious, that's um… ow. Uhh. Good eatin." He swallowed. "But don't let me hog them all up, oh… no here you have some." He said, shoving a couple in Carl's mouth. "Bon Appetit." He then broke into a run.

"Now?" Frank asked Carl.

A moment passed, not wanting the slot get too far, "Now!" Carl yelled.

Sid heard the rumbling behind him, looked back and screamed. Then he ran into a big, furry leg. "Hey!" The mammoth looked to see who had run into him. A sloth?

"Aw man! I wanted to hit him at full speed!" Frank complained. Manny then noticed the two rhinos.

"That's okay, Frank. We'll have some fun with 'em."

"Don't let the impale me," Sid clutched onto Manny's leg begging, "please, I wanna live!"

"Get off me!" The mammoth shook the sloth off of his leg.

"C'mon you're makin' a scene." Carl tried to persuade Manfred.

"Ah-huh! We'll just take our furry piñata and go if you don't mind," Frank said.

"Hey buddy. If it's not them today, it's just someone else tomorrow." Manny tried to get the sloth off his back… or at least out from behind his leg.

"Well I'd rather not be today, Okay?" Sid said peering around the mammoth's leg.

"Look, we're goanna break your neck, so ya don't feel a thing. How's that?" Carl asked, defensively, and imitating stomping his foot.

"Wait a minute." Manny interjected, "I thought rhinos… were vegetarian."

"An excellent point!" Sid's approving claw came out from behind Manny's leg.

"Shut up." The mammoth said.

"Who says we're gonna eat him after we kill him?" Carl said.

"Yeah, c'mon. Move it." Frank shooed with his foot.

All right, now that was just wrong. Manny supposed even though he didn't want to, he had no choice but to save the stupid sloth. "You know- I don't like animals that kill for pleasure." Manny raised his tusks, defensively.

"Save it." Carl growled, "for a mammal that cares."

In a desperate call for assistance Sid said, "I'm a mammal that cares."

Manny groaned, trying to make this easy. "Okay, look. If either of you make it across that sink hole, in front of you, you get the sloth." Carl and Frank noticed the sinkhole ahead, eyeing each other wearily as if saying, 'maybe it's not worth it.'

Noticing this as a weak moment for the two, Sid decided to speak out. Which… is never a good idea for Sid. "That's right you losers! You take one step and you're dead!" Sid threw a rock into the sinkhole to prove his point. Manny's eyes widened. _Does this guy have a death wish?_

The rock just naturally bounced across what used to be a sinkhole. But was now, clearly, a dry one.

"You were buffing huh?" Sid said, his shoulders shrunk, in defeat.

"Yeah," Manny said, "yeah, that was a bluff."

The rhinos charged, "Get em!" Both, hitting Manny's tusks at the same time, forcing the mammoth back.

"Ahh!" Sid shouted, clutching the mammoth's back leg, and then noticing the fifty foot cliff that the rhinos were forcing both of the two over. Sid's scream became higher.

Manny was not about to let some stupid pair of rhinos push him around. Even if it meant saving this idiot! Manny gathered all of his force, and pushed back ten times as hard on the rhinos. Forcing them to fly in the air.

"Woo hoo!" Sid jumped in front of Manny, cheering, but then cowered behind the mammoth again, spotting the charging rhinos. But Sid looked up, feeling Manny leave him, grab Carl and toss him into the air. Sid marveled, impressed as Carl landed with a thud. Then he screamed as Frank came charging, but then sighed in relief as Manny picked the rhino up in his tusks.

Back on the ground to where Carl was: the rhino shook off the blow, and then saw something yellow and delicious in front of his face. "A dandelion?" He asked, happily, and his happiness was soon crushed, just like the dandelion that Frank was thrown on to by Manny.

Sid cheered, "Woo-hoo! We did it! We did it!" He yelled, wrapping his arms to hug Manny's trunk.

"Wait- wait!" Manny gasped, as the force of Sid, was just enough to push both over the cliff. Actually, it wasn't as steep as the two presumed, they just slid all the way down. Which later, Sid thought to himself, would have been a bit more fun, if it weren't for the fact that he had been screaming all the way down. They landed.

Sid couldn't just say thank-you. This was the mammal that had just saved his life. Perhaps, a compliment would make this guy's day. "You have beautiful eyes." Sid smiled, still hugging the mammoth's trunk.

"Get off my face." Manny commanded, dropping the sloth with his trunk. Sid sprang back up.

"Oh, you and me, we make a great team, don't we?" Sid followed behind Manny, "whaddaya say we just… head south together?" Sid suggested, he had never migrated with someone before.

"Great, yeah, why don't ya just jump up on my back, relax the whole way." Manny said sarcastically.

"Wow, really?" Sid said humbled by the friendly offer.

"No." Manny said, plainly.

"Wait, aren't you going south?" Sid noticed the wrong direction that they were traveling, "change of seasons, migration instincts, any of this… a-ringin a bell?"

"I guess not, bye!" Manny replied unfriendly.

"Okay then, thanks for the help, I can take it from here." Sid waddled onward. Only to be spotted by Carl and Frank at the top of the cliff.

"Hey you over-grown weasel!" Carl called, "wait till we get down there!"

Hearing the footsteps of the sloth behind him, Manny knew that it would be a long day. "Woah, this whole south thing is way over-rated. The heat, the crowds, who needs it? I mean, isn't this great, you and me, two bachelors knocking about in the… _wild_?" Sid gestured with his arm.

"No… you just want a body guard, so you don't become somebody's side-dish." Manny glared at the sloth.

"You're a very shrewd mammal." He said, "okay then you lead the way Mr. Big… ahh… didn't get the name?" Sid said.

"Manfred."

"Manfred, yuck, how 'bout, Manny, the moody mammoth, or Manny the melancholy. Manny the-" Sid gasped, and ran up a near by tree trunk, seeing Manny glare at him.

Manny grabbed the tree trunk, with his trunk, glared at the sloth threateningly, "stop following me." He released the trunk and let the sloth slide down.

"Okay, okay, so you've got issues, look you wont even know I'm here, I just… zip the lip. When I say Mmph, I'm Mmph." Sid said, deciding to shut up for a while. Which didn't last for long. Seeing as how when Sid got tired of walking, he started to complain.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Wow, how did you put up with that?" Crash laughed.

"Wasn't easy." Manny rolled his eyes.

"I think you're over-exaggerating Manny, I mean, I'm not _that _annoying." Sid grinned.

"Sid, there's five other animals here that would beg to differ." Manny said.

Diego snickered, "why did you guys never tell me that's how you met! That's… a really entertaining story!" Manny shrugged at his friend.

"Well, go on!" Eddie said, "I'm sure there's more to it than that!"

**Hey! I'm gonna continue this soon! Please review and tell me what you think! Did I have everyone in good character? Please review! = D**


	2. Prowling Sabers

**Hey! Thanks for reading and reviewing, and thanks for the constructive criticisms! They all helped a lot! : D**

_Chapter Two- Prowling Sabers_

"Yeah, there's definitely more to the story than that!" Sid continued, breaking off a branch from a near-by tree and tossing it into the fire.

"Yeah there is!" Diego echoed, "my part- the night before I met you."

"Um, Diego, I really don't think they want to hear about a boring old hunt. Where all you do is, murder a helpless animal and bite it and… eat it. " Sid shuddered.

"WE DO!!!" Crash and Eddie sprung up and shouted in unison.

"Okay." Diego said, ignoring the twins. " This isn't any hunt. I'll just tell about what happened after the hunt." The fire cracked some wood. "Besides, you wont get the story if I don't talk about what happened before I met you."

"What do you mean?" Manny asked, the orange fire light shining on his fur.

"I think he means- Shut up and listen!" Ellie smiled at Diego. "Go on, Diego."

"Thanks, Ellie." Diego said, the wood gave another crack as Diego began his part of the story. "It was about seven. We just finished eating and everyone was lying around waiting for the leader of the pack, Soto, to give us a command."

"Wait- wasn't Soto the one that Manny-" Sid almost said the word killed when Ellie shushed him.

"This is a story," Ellie said, "Don't give it away." She said, cuddling closer to Manny.

"Soto was my older brother." Diego said to clarify the situation.

"_You _have a _brother?_" Crash asked astonished, then looked to Eddie.

"Yeah, I had five brothers actually, and four sisters." Diego replied.

"What happened to them all?" Eddie asked.

"But Diego, we only saw four sabers in your pack at Glacier Pass." Sid commented.

"Okay, okay. Let me tell the story and I'll answer all of your questions," Diego said, slightly taken aback by all of the incoming questions.

"Okay!"

"Anyway… we were all waiting for Soto to give us a command. He was the alpha of the pack, and I was the bata- the second-in-command."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I love antelope!" Lenny smiled satisfied. He waddled over and hit Zeke, the last in command, in the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Diego watched the stupid situation between his idiotic brothers. He sighed. He then saw Oscar chewing on a bone. "I'll take that." Diego swiped the bone out of Oscar's mouth.

"Hey! I was eating that you-" Before Oscar could finish the sentence, Diego threateningly eyeballed Oscar up to his face.

"Wanna fight for it?" Diego asked menacingly.

"Never mind!" Oscar grumbled off somewhere that Diego didn't know or didn't care where. Diego snickered to him self, asserting his position was always fun.

"It's good to be the Bata!" Diego grinned chewing on the bone.

"You think you're all that just because you're the Bata Diego." Lenny rolled his eyes, "I bet Soto really hates you."

Suddenly, Soto appeared over the hills, "Diego!" He called motioning for Diego to follow his lead.

Diego left, smirking over his shoulder smugly to his obese brother. He than dropped the half-chewed bone to the ground. "I never really wanted this."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Wow, you were a jerk." Crash said.

"Yeah. Why'd you take the bone if you weren't gonna finish it?" Eddie asked.

"It's called asserting your position." Diego shrugged. "Any other questions?" Looking at the shake of heads, Diego continued.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Yeah, Soto?" Diego came up behind his brother.

"Just follow me." Soto said, and Diego did so. If Soto told you to do something you would do it.

"_Why?" Ellie interjected. _

_Diego sighed, "'Cuz he's the alpha."_

"_Oh, okay. Go on," Ellie said flashing her lovable smile._

Diego followed his brother. Traveling under fallen trees, threw dry, yellowed grass, to the growing noise that brought back the memories of a deadly week ago.

"Soto, stop!" Diego faced Soto, "We're not going back _there_ are we?" Diego motioned his head up the waterfall.

"Yeah, but we're not going to the camp. We're just looking."

"I hate humans." Diego spat bitterly. Soto gave a snarl in agreement.

"_What is it with humans?" Eddie asked gnawing on a piece of rotten apple that he found on the ground. _

_Diego huffed, "I'm getting to it."_

"Diego, tomorrow we get revenge on the humans." Diego glanced at his brother, his features were as hard as his own voice as the two made their way up to the canopy.

"Revenge, as in wipe out the Leader Man's whole pack? Or revenge as in doing something to destroy the Leader Man's whole life." Diego asked.

"The second one." Replied Soto, "but some of Leader Man's pack members might be killed too. But Diego, last night I thought of a way to avenge our pack."

"How?"

"I'm leaving you a very important assignment. We're right now just goanna scope out the human camp. Make sure everything's clear. And tomorrow early in the morning we head out. And I want you to bring the Leader Man's… _cub_ to me! I'll take care of the rest. " Soto grinned sickly.

Diego chuckled to himself. "Guess we'll be having baby back ribs for breakfast!" Soto laughed at the joke then ran up the falls. Diego quickened his pace to follow.

"_That's so sick, Diego!" Ellie fumed, "a BABY? A helpless BABY?" Crash and Eddie gave the tiger a look too. _

"_I know, I know. But at the time… you know. I don't know." Diego was at a loss for words. _

"_Baby back ribs?" Manny gave Diego an equally harsh look. Diego was defeated._

"_I Know!" _

"_You were a BIG Jerk!" Sid added. _

"_I KNOW! I feel bad enough. Lets just get back to the story." Diego sighed._

"Oh look at the cute, little, baby Diego." Soto marveled at his prize. "Isn't it nice he'll be joining us for breakfast."

"It wouldn't be breakfast without him." Diego replied, coldly.

"Especially since his daddy wiped out half of our pack and wears our _skin_ to keep warm. An eye for an eye, don't you think!"

Diego narrowed his eyes, "Let's show that _human_ what happens when he messes with sabers.

"Alert the troops. We attack at dawn," Soto commanded. Diego turned to go when Soto had an additional though, "oh and Diego, bring me that baby… _alive_. If I'm going to enjoy my revenge, I want it to be fresh!" Soto growled. Diego returned to tell the other sabers the plan. Soto continued watching the humans, as if he were on a stake out. The baby tottered, attempting to walk. Before he could fall, his father hugged him, and carried him into the tent.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hold on a minute, Diego." Manny said before the tiger could go on. "You told me and Sid earlier that you wanted the baby because it was your job. And Soto wanted them in revenge for your pack mates?" Diego nodded. "Well," Manny continued, " were your other brother, and your four other sisters the pack mates that got killed?"

"Yeah," Diego responded.

"Oh. Sweetie, I never knew." Ellie gasped. There was a momentary silence. No one spoke, not sure how Diego was feeling. He shrugged.

"It's okay. I mean losing your brothers and sisters is one thing. But losing your mate and child is another." _'Oh Crap!' _Diego thought in his head. He looked at Manny, "Sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up." Diego stared into the copper flame. Not wanting to meet gazes with his friend.

"It's fine, Diego." Manny smiled half-heartedly. "It's just that. I never knew that your _brother_ and _sisters _were killed. I just thought when you said pack mates you met well… pack mates. Not family. You okay?"

Diego smirked, "I'm fine. Don't worry. But yeah. That's why the revenge was so important to us."

"Soto still seems like a jerk, though." Eddie commented.

"Yeah. But he wasn't always like that." Diego said, "we used to be as close as you and Crash are."

"Really?" Eddie exclaimed.

"What happened?" Asked Crash, leading his head closer into the alluring glow.

"That's later in the story."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Diego made it back to camp, not knowing if Soto was behind him or not. He heard his pack mates complaining about Soto's obsession with humans.

"Listen up," Diego spoke loudly, "we attack the humans at dawn. " Zeke laughed psychotically.

"Ah-ah-ha-ha! See-ha! See, that's, that's what we're just _sayin'!_" Zeke grinned his crooked teeth at Dieog.

"What about that walking buffet, heading south?" Fat Lenny complained.

Diego scoffed, "_You'll _be a walking buffet if you don't do what Soto says."

"Then let's get the orders from Soto. Why do we have to hear them from _you_?" Oscar said arrogantly. Before Diego could respond, Oscar's answer came from Soto:

"Because Diegos' the only one I trust!" Soto circled the tigers, sizing them up. "You mangy pack of worthless _kittens_! This is our chance to send the humans a message that they won't forget." He walked over to the weakest of the pack, Zeke. "Does everyone understand?"

"Yes, yes. Send your message; get your revenge, please. Whatever you want-" Soto hit Zeke in the back of the head, no member of the pack should ever question Soto. Let alone, talk back to him.

"Get some rest." He commanded, "Diego will give you your marching orders at dawn. "

Diego glared at Oscar, smugly. _'Ya hear that Oscar, I'M the only one he trusts!'_ Diego thought to himself, he smirked and walked away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Wow, being in a pack of sabers seems… tough." Ellie was the first to speak up.

"Yeah, it sort of is." Diego shrugged.

"So… wait, you attacked the humans the next morning?" Eddie asked.

"Was there blood?" Crash asked a bit more interested.

Just as Diego was about to tell more in the story, Sid spoke up.

"Hold on buddy. Manny and I had a big adventure too!"

Manny gave Sid a look. "What adventure?"

"Okay, maybe not _adventure,_ but I have to tell about the part where I boldly built a sturdy shelter out of the massive logs. And Manny got tired just carrying a stick!"

"Uhh. I seem to remember that differently. " Manny glared at the sloth. "It's my turn to tell the story."

**Well, I hope that was better. : ) Can't wait to write the next chapter! Its gonna have Manny speaking! Lol! Thanks for reading, and please review if you want! Tell me if you liked it! **


	3. Our First Camp

_Hey guys! Thanks for your reviews! Okay, so this chapter is kinda short but, I hope you like it! : )_

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Three- Our First Camp_

"Well, it gets kind of long. Maybe we should wait until morning to finish-"

"No Manny!" Eddie interjected.

"Quit being a party-pooper!" Crash complained.

"Please, we want to hear it all tonight!" Ellie said eagerly.

"Manny, you're no fun at all!" Sid crossed his arms looking at the mammoth.

"I like finishing stories once they're started." Diego added.

"Alright, alright. We'll finish it tonight. Geez! It was just a suggestion." Manny grumbled, "Okay, so where were we in our story, Sid?" Before the sloth could speak, Manny continued, "Sid's promise for me to _'not even know he is there'_ lasted for about two minutes- tops!"

"So you have always talked when other animals didn't want to listen." Crash shot the sloth a look, "no wonder your family abandoned you." Eddie snickered at his brother's comment.

"Guys, stop being so mean!" Ellie said, swatting her trunk at her brothers.

"Do you guys want to hear the story or not." Manny said impatiently.

"Sorry," Ellie murmured wrapping her trunk in his. "Continue," she said flirtatiously looking into his eyes.

Manny continued.

"I bet she could get him to jump off of a cliff just by doing that," Sid whispered to Diego who smirked lightly in return.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The unlikely duo traveled in silence for about two minutes. The only sound one could hear was the distant migration noises, and the rush of the wind. Then…

"Boy, am I hungry, I haven't eaten in… wait, I haven't eaten all day! Unless you count that dandelion earlier."

The irritated mammoth groaned, "What did I do to deserve… _you?_" He asked to no one in particular. Sid only seemed to hear the sound of his voice and not the words.

"Sorry, what?" The clueless sloth asked.

"Wha- Oh never mind!" The pair walked in silence for a moment or two. Which was once again interrupted by the sound of the sloth's voice.

"Bush at ten-o'clock!" Sid yelped happily! Running over to the bush he 'Mmmed' happily. "Blackberry!" He closed his eyes dreamily, biting into the juicy fruit.

_'I'll ignore that idiot for now.' _Manny thought picking a branch of berries off of the tree. He began munching happily when an aggravating voice- again interrupted his train of thought!

"Manny, not to rain on your parade or anything, but perhaps if you wouldn't devour the whole bush, you wouldn't be struggling with such a big-no pun intended or anything- hah- weight problem." Sid said in a light voice, not wanting to offend the one animal that could crush him with a mere stomp of the foot.

"_So Manny, even Sid thought that you have a weight problem. What does that tell ya?" Crash laughed receiving a high-five from his brother._

"_You know, you two are even smaller than Sid, more crushable." _

_Eddie scoffed, "bring it on, we're not afraid of you!"_

"_Yeah, Ellie is our protector." Crash showed his sister off._

"_I'm gonna kill you both if you don't let the story go on." Ellie said threateningly. Receiving a "sorry Ellie," in unison she nodded, "keep going Manny, you were doing good!" _

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'm not fat. It's all muscle, which _you_ seem to be lacking in. Now stop talking." Manny munched on the branch. Sid wandered over to the other side of the bush.

"Geez, ya don't have to get so touchy about it." Sid muttered, biting a berry off of the bush.

After there were no berries left on the bush, along with a few missing branches, the two continued their trip to- where ever. About fifteen minutes later, Sid yawned.

"Ahhhh. I'm about ready to lie down right now."

"You're kidding."

"Hey, we walked for a long time. I think it's just about time to… unwind." Sid laid on the ground tucked his arms under his head and closed his eyes.

Manny cheered mentally. _'Yes! Finally! Now I can sneak away and-'_

"Wait a second- why don't I just relax on top of you?" The sloth suggested.

Manny groaned, partially because he came so close to getting rid of the sloth -also because the sloth seemed to think of him as a slave. "And give me one good reason why I should do that."

"Because… we have become such close friends over the past few hours we have spent together. You saving me, us talking and walking together, the black berries, the-"

Manny pretended to look like he was actually think about it. "You know what Sid?"

"Thanks Manny! You're great!" Sid exclaimed excitedly.

"-No!" Manny said firmly.

"Mean!" Sid scoffed and kept walking, while complaining.

After about five more excruciating minutes of Sid's complaints, Manny pressed his trunk to his head, "Is it possible for you to shut up." He exclaimed irritated, "didn't you agree that I 'wouldn't even know you're here?'"

Sid didn't know how to respond, "oh Manny." He waved his arm casually. Manny rolled his eyes, the air began to cool even more, Sid even noticed this change in temperature, "Ah, Chilly," he shivered.

'_Having woolly fur is a big advantage.'_ The mammoth thought to himself, when he noticed that Sid was missing. _'Good, maybe he finally caught on that I don't want him anywhere near me.'_ Manny turned to see Sid balancing on a log.

_'Then again, why would he leave when he can annoy me?'_ Manny thought sighing.

The sun began to set, mixing colors of red, yellow and pink in the sky. It did look beautiful, Manny and Sid both agreed to stop for the night. Manny gathered some logs when he heard Sid dragging a big stick behind him. Maybe not, more like a _twig!_

"Oh. Hu. Whew!" Sid gasped, dragging the stick behind him, "I'm wiped out." He said bending over.

"That's your shelter?" Manny asked, not very surprised.

"Hey," Sid tried to defend himself, "you're a big guy, you got a lot of wood. I'm a little guy!"

"Ya got half a stick." Manny rolled his eyes and turned to pile up the logs up on a rock figure, resting the other logs on the side of the cliff.

"Yeah…" Sid continued, "but with my little stick and my highly evolved brains," Sid knocked the twig on the side of his head, emphasizing his words, then hitting himself in his eye, "ouch. I shall create… _fire!_" Sid exclaimed excitedly.

"Fascinating." Manny sarcastically replied, piling the last log on top of the rocks, completing his shelter.

"We'll see if brains triumph over brawn tonight," Sid retorted, accidently cracking his stick in half, "now won't we." He grinned, stupidly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_"Sid, you were just carrying a stick you know." Diego commented. "How did you get tired from just that?"_

_"The stick was far away. And I was walking all day, and-"_

_"And he's not exactly in shape." Eddie laughed with his brother, the twin possums snickered in unison. _

_"Guys." Ellie playfully punched Eddie with her trunk._

_"Hey, its true." Manny added._

_"Heh. Very funny!" Sid said rolling his eyes. _

_"Sid, don't take it personally, its just, you look like a pear." Crash added in. Earning boisterous laughter from everyone in the group. _

_"He looks like a pear that ate a pear." Diego laughed. _

_"Okay, Manny." Sid glared, "and you shouldn't be laughing , can you continue the story."_

_Manny chuckled, actually having fun with the story, "Alright, alright."_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once things had settled down, the sounds of the night began to fall in. Sid began to ramble on, as a light shower of rain began to fall.

"I've seen the humans make fire, so how hard could it be?" Sid said enthusiastically. Manny moved into his shelter, leaving the poor sloth to the rain. "Ah, this rain is _nothing._" Sid exclaimed, beginning to rub his two sticks together, undiscouraged.

"Doesn't water put fire out?" Manny, looked at the sloth from inside his safe and dry shelter.

"Don't worry, in just a moment, this rain will be gone, and we'll behold a roaring fire!"

Lightning crashed in the sky, the light shower evolved into a pouring rain, with wind blowing the trees above.

"Hey, think I saw a spark." Manny said, hoping to inconvenience the sloth further.

Sid smiled, his spirits were uplifted at the thought of just a spark, then realizing what the mammoth was doing. His face dulled, "Uh, any chance I could squeeze in there with you, Manny old pal?"

"Oh. Isn't there some one else you could annoy," Manny said with the sound of rain falling in the background, " Friends, family… _poisonous reptiles?" 'Not a bad idea,'_ Manny thought to himself.

"Ah. My family abandoned me," Sid said, throwing the failed sticks to the ground.

_~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~_

_"I wonder why!" Crash interrupted. _

_"That's what I was thinking at that moment!" Manny commented. _

_"Actually, I was just about to say that." Diego added in. _

"_Ditto!" Eddie said, holding up his paw to Diego for a high-five. Diego high fived the possum, the big paw sent the possum flying off the tree._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"They just kinda, migrated without me." Sid walked into the mammoth's shelter. Welcoming himself to Manny's tusks as a bed, shaking off his wet feet. "Boy, you should see what they did last year. You know me; they woke up early, and quietly tied my hands, and feet and gagged me with a field mouse, and barricaded the cave door. Covered their tracks, went through water so I'd lose their scent and- and- and." Sid yawned, beginning to trail off. "Ah- who needs the anyway." He pulled Manny's trunk over him, like a blanket.

Manny was so surprised at the stupidity of the sloth. He was using his tusks as a bed, and his trunk as a _blanket_! Who did the sloth think he was? He grasped the sloth by the neck and threw him to the ground. _Outside _in the rain!

The stupid animal continued, "so what about you, you have family?"

_'That's it.'_ Manny turned around, butt facing Sid. Sid finally seemed to catch on that Manny was not in the mood to talk, the temperature dropped in the air.

"Okay, you're tired, I see. Well we'll talk more in the morning!" Sid smiled, tone still friendly. "Ow , ow, ouch ow ow!" Rain began to freeze into hail, "Uh, Manfred, Manfred! Could you scooch over a drop?" Hail fell on the sloth as the mammoth didn't respond. "Aw, c'mon nobody falls asleep that fast." He put his hands on his hips, "Manny!" He yelled, giving up, he fit into the cave just a little. He grabbed Manny's tail defeated, to at least shelter himself from the rain.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Aw. Manny, that was mean." Ellie said to her mate, slapping him lightly in the back of the head with her trunk.

"Not really, I would have just eaten him." Diego said, receiving an alarmed look from Sid, "I mean, when I didn't know you," he finished.

"I don't think that's funny." Sid defended.

"It's not funny, it's true." Diego argued with Sid, while Manny and Ellie continued talking.

"But still Manny," Ellie tried to defend Sid.

"Ellie, _you _didn't have to deal with him like I did." Manny said.

"Okay, okay everyone!" Crash yelled, silencing the group. "What happened next?"

**Well, I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry, it did take a while for me to complete. I know, please review! : ) I hope you like this story so far. **


	4. Dawn

_Holy Crap! Thank you all for those reviews! : - D _

_Campfire Stories _

_Chapter Four- Dawn_

"Well what do 'ya mean what happened next?" Manny said in response to Crash's question, "we got up and-"

"Did you get up at _dawn?_" Diego asked in attempt to make a point.

"Uhh, no." Manny replied, not exactly getting the point.

"Okay, cuz I _had _to. So let me tell the story for a couple minutes." Diego said, receiving a nod from Manny. "This sucked." He started off, "well Soto got us up at the crack of dawn, actually before dawn. Everyone was complaining, I knew that Soto would not like hearing anyone complaining, so I tried to get everyone to shut up!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The gloomy night sky was just barley letting the sunlight threw. The stars continued to gleam, though the sky was a dark navy blue. The pack had just left their cave, Diego was unaware that he would never return to that cave, with his adventure awaiting him later in the day.

"Would you just shut up? I had to get up early too! And I'm gonna have to be running, soon." Diego glared at his pitiful brothers. Their constant complaining was giving Diego _and_ Soto headaches.

"Thank you, Diego." Soto whispered relieved when the pack stopped talking.

"Kiss up." Oscar muttered, Diego hissed, swiping Oscar with his claws.

"Shut up," Diego uttered his hard reply. Oscar glared at his brother. The pack traveled together in silence for a few moments. The tigers reached the crown of the hill, separating the humans and the tigers.

"Diego, you look and make sure the _humans_ are all in their weird little caves." Soto commanded in a harsh whisper, "quietly."

Following his alpha's orders, Diego padded quietly over the peak of the hill. The camp was deserted, not a human was aroused. The firewood still had a slight spark; the sparkless firewood cracked, and fell, signaling the humans were all asleep. Looking for a few seconds, he gave the pack mates the all clear. They were ready for the ambush.

Without a single word, Soto, Diego and the other tigers crouched; they padded silently down hill toward the camp. Paw in front of paw, the pack moved in unison, as if they were all one big ghost. Diego concentrated so hard in controlling his movements to not make a sound, he was surprised when his paws stirred some pebbles on the ground. The guard wolves were aroused, they alerted the humans, barking. _'Damn Mutts!'_ Diego cursed in his mind. Oh well, no use in attempting to attack with a quiet ambush. The pack soon began a fast paced running, the humans began to run out of their tents with their spears ready for use.

Diego snuck behind all of the tents. Though the sun was breaking threw the night sky, the tiger still managed to blend into the landscape. He watched the fight, as he creeped to the right tent. He saw his brothers distracting the humans, by fighting. So far, the plan was a success!

He slipped into the tent and immediately saw his prize- the baby! He took a few steps toward it, growling softly in delight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Diego! I still can't believe that _you _would do that! That's so… sick." Ellie exclaimed, making a disgusted face at the saber.

"I know." Diego agreed, "I was just doing what my alpha told me to do." Diego shrugged in his defense.

Sid, next to Diego spoke, "Oh. And I suppose if Soto told you to jump off a cliff you would."

"I considered jumping off the waterfall after the baby."

"The baby went down the waterfall?" Ellie gasped, stunned.

"Maybe… if we would let Diego continue the story. We would find out how… Pinky went down the waterfall." Manny said yawning. Diego nodded, silently thanking Manny.

"And how Manny and I saved him!" Sid blurted out proudly.

"Oh nice job ruining the story ya dumb sloth!" Crash exclaimed, walking up the sloth, and slapping him.

"Yeah! Shut up, story destroyer!" Eddie slapped the sloth imitating his twin receiving a shocked look from Sid.

""Ow!"

"Sorry, Diego," Ellie smiled at her friend, "continue!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Closer, closer, closer, Diego was about to take the baby when, he realized there was someone else in the tent. Nadia, grabbed a hold of her baby she was getting closed in to a corner of the tent, Diego would not be stopped. She struck him in the head with her club. Diego dropped his head in pain as Nadia ran out of the tent.

Though Diego's world was spinning, he ran after her, growling in anger. _'Okay human, you want to do it the hard way. We'll do it the hard way.'_

Runar, the human baby's father, noticed Diego running after Nadia. As he turned to follow the advancing tiger he was intercepted by Soto and Oscar. Soto growled strongly, warning Runar not to mess with the pack. Runar could only watch apprehensively, as Diego ran swiftly after his wife- and their innocent baby.

Diego knew the woman's two legs were no match for his four. In fact he was one of the fastest in the pack, the only pack member aside from Soto, who could out run him was his sister Sarah, who was taken by this tribe of humans. Diego shook the thought out of his mind, the bad memory, only giving him reason to dart faster.

It was Diego, against the human; Diego was in it for revenge. Nadia was running, to save her life, and even more important to her, he baby. Nadia thought for a moment that she had escaped the tiger, running up, onto a large, flat rock. Suddenly, Diego sprang out behind another bolder, in attempt to swipe the baby from her arms, a shell necklace, (which was wrapped around the baby in his blanket,) got snagged onto Diego's claw. He shook his paw, as the necklace dropped to the ground, he stepped on it, snarling.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Wait a minute!" Sid interrupted, "was that… _the _necklace?" This question caused Manny to turn his head toward Sid in curiosity.

"Yup." Diego nodded. Earning an 'oh' from Sid, and a nod of the head from Manfred. Ellie, Crash and Eddie exchanged glances confused.

"What necklace?" Ellie asked, intrigued.

"You'll find out." Manny said, as Sid was about to answer her question, and ruin the story, Manny covered Sid's mouth with his trunk. Diego playfully smacked Sid in the back of the head. "We want to _finish_ the story, remember?" Manny spoke to the sloth, as if talking to a baby.

"Oh. Sorry, but guys, it's just so exciting, telling _our_ story." Sid beamed, the glow from the fire, lit up his face. Diego, Manny and Sid looked at each other. "Ahw, what the heck? Group hug!" Sid grabbed his companions, well, Manny as best as he could, and hugged them close.

"So sweet." Ellie smiled.

"Yeah, I guess." Eddie said flatly, "can you continue the story now?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nadia sprinted away from Diego, her face, flashing with fear. Diego chased her into shallow water, as Nadia ran further- the water began to thicken and race faster. Diego, of course noticed this, but he knew the water was just simple shallow water, it didn't even come up to his knees, so he decided to ignore his oncoming fear. _'Great a waterfall.'_ Diego thought as he cornered Nadia between himself and the massive waterfall. _'No escaping now…'_ Diego smiled in satisfaction at the fear on Nadia's face. He growled, low, advancing closer to her and his prize.

She drew her baby close to her, defensively, Diego had to give her credit, she was bold. Nadia took a few steps backward before reaching the edge of the rock supporting her. In a last courageous attempt to save her baby, from the saber-toothed demon, she jumped from the massive falls.

Diego's jaw dropped clear to the ground as he watched Nadia and her baby disappear in the falls' mist. He considered going after them but he decided not to, considering as how it would basically be _suicide!_ He sneered, and wandered his way back to the human camp. Soto would not be pleased.

'_Well you blew this one.'_ Diego scolded himself in his mind, _'now what do I tell Soto? Oh hey, just to let you know, I just let your only reason for existence go over a waterfall, but hey, at least we got our exercise?_ _'_ Diego sarcastically suggested to himself, _'maybe I should have jumped off of the falls. It would be better than what ever Soto is going to do to me.'_ Diego gulped, trying to reassemble his mind, walking on the thinly frosted ground. _'Oscar will never let me live this down, if I live.'_ Diego groaned, approaching his pack members. His posture was lacking a little as he tried to keep his stride in which he normally has.

"There's Diego. Fall Back!" Soto commanded, receiving a few tiger sneers, from Zeke. Soto and the pack reached Diego, "where's the baby?" Soto demanded.

"I lost it over the falls." Diego replied, his gaze not reaching Soto's eyes. He heard frustrated moans from his pack members, but only had ears for Soto.

"You _lost _it?" Soto growled as a spear came flying past, just missing the two tigers, and landing inside of the ground. The saber pack ran to avoid the angry human tribe. "I want that baby Diego." Soto said firmly.

"I'll get it."

'_Oh no, you're not getting off that easy.'_ Soto growled mentally, "you'd better. Unless you want to serve yourself as a replacement."

Diego looked down, taken a back by the sudden death threat. "We'll go up to half peak!" Soto announced. "Meet us there." He said in between huffs of breath, "and it'd better be alive!" He said, eyeing Diego as he ran off.

"Can we trust you with that Diego?" Oscar asked being the smart ass that he is.

Diego replied with a threatening growl. "Let's go." He heard Soto call off the others, Oscar, in particular. Oscar left, glaring Diego, who returned the glower. When the sabers left, he bounded of in the other direction, down the cliff. In attempt to retrieve the baby, who now, Diego was praying was still alive.

The wolves grunted at their master, Runar, when they found the only thing that resembled a scent of his wife, and lost son. Runar picked up the little beaded necklace, sadly. Anger shot threw him as he sprang forward to track down the sabers who had just in a few moments, destroyed his world.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Question," Crash began, "when Soto said that 'you were going to serve yourself as a replacement.' What did that mean, exactly?" Both he and Eddie cringed, already half knowing the upcoming answer.

Diego drew in a breath, "meaning," he began, "he would kill me and… well eat me." Diego finished, cringing a little himself at the cryptic thought.

"Aren't you two brothers though?" Manny asked, receiving the nod. "That's… really, really sick." He said, Sid making a face in agreement.

"I know. But… that's pack life." Diego shrugged.

"Eew." Ellie gasped. "That's awful!"

"I know, it was weird… When Soto said that, I was surprised." Diego said, as the noise around the fire died down. The only sound made, was the sound of the night crickets.

**Thanks for the awesome reviews again guys! Hope this chapter was to your liking! : - D**


	5. Oh Baby!

**Thanks for awesome reviews guys! But I did find that I made some STUPID mistakes that I should have noticed when I was doing my revisions. So I'm sooo sorry for that, I'll try harder this time : )**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter five- Oh baby!_

Not a sound was made besides the intermittently crackling fire, and the chirping sounds of the crickets. Crash shifted on the branch in the tree. The smoke of the fire rose high in the dark navy, starry sky. Sid tossed a piece of bark from the log he was sitting on in the fire. Every member of the herd watched as the sparks rose into the sky, eventually fading in the night.

"Well," Manny started, "why the awkward silence guys? We still have a lot more of the story to go."

"Yeah," Ellie's chipper voice brightening the mood. Clouds moved over the moon.

"Ooh! It's getting dark!" Crash cheered as the glow of the fire grew luminescent. Lighting up the animals' faces, Sid smiled at Diego who smiled back.

"Ahh. I've done it again, making the perfect fire." Sid complimented himself.

"I don't know what we would do with out you." Diego scoffed sarcastically.

"Hey." Eddie interrupted, raising his paw and catching everybody's attention. "I thought that you couldn't make a fire that night that you and Manny first spent together."

"Yeah." Sid replied, " I couldn't. But when we all meet, a couple nights later-"

"Shut up!" Crash cried.

"I don't wanna know! Stop trying to ruin the story." Eddie murmured to Sid covering his ears.

"Oops. I did it again." Sid gasped, covering his mouth. "Sorry guys," He apologized in a clumsy voice.

"That's alright Sid." Ellie smiled at the sloth reassuringly, "you didn't mean to."

"Well," Manny cleared his throat, "why don't we all finish the story before Sid just ends up telling it himself?" The whole group was silent.

"I think I would do a good job." Sid protested.

"Where were we?" Manny asked the crowd, completely ignoring Sid's previous comment. "Well, I got up pretty early that morning, probably not as early as Diego though. Sid, of course was still sleeping."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was about Eight in the morning, Manny was used to waking up around this time. Sid, as he could tell was not. The sun peeked over some pink-orange clouds.

_Snooooooooooooore, Snooooooooooooore, Snoooooooooooooore, Snooooooooooooore. _

The sloth's snoring was beginning to get unbearable. Manny walked to the back of his shelter where Sid had eventually curled himself in to a ball on the floor. Manny walked behind the sloth and kicked him roughly in the butt. "Get up lard-o." Manny aroused the sloth.

"Ow hey!" Sid jumped off of the ground, rubbing his rear end. "What's the big idea Manny?"

Manny slapped his head with his trunk the moment he realized that he could have left the sloth when he was sleeping. Too late now. "Get up, do 'ya wanna waste the whole day sleeping?" Manny glared at the sloth, and walked away.

Sid groaned and followed Manny, waddling quickly in attempt to catch up. "I can tell someone isn't a morning person."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Diego began laughing hysterically.

"What?" Everyone in the group gave Diego a weird look.

"What?" Diego echoed, "I can't laugh when we tell a story?"

"It wasn't that funny." Eddie turned to Crash who nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Diego," Sid sounded flattered. Diego rarely laughed at his jokes. "I thought it was a pretty funny line myself." Sid said grinning.

"Yeah, I liked that. It _is _true." Diego snickered.

"Funny." Manny said in a tone that said: I-really-don't-think-it-was-that-funny. Can-we-get-back-to-the-story?

"Sorry Manny." Diego snickered.

Ellie giggled, "I thought it was a good joke too!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The mammoth and sloth walked quietly… Manny awaited Sid's daily yammering. Manny had known this guy for less than a full day, and he had predicted what was to come.

The two wandered in the same direction while Manny was the first to spot a large Apple tree next to a few surrounding bushes with some wild flowers growing around the frosted ground.

"Breakfast!" Sid cheered, "These babies will be gone in a couple of days with the weather. So why don't I take some. Thank you very much!" Sid exclaimed to absolutely no one, and grasped a few of the wild flowers.

Manny shook his head, groaning. How was he ever going to get rid of this idiot? He would worry about that after he had a few blue berries. He put his foot on the snowy ground, and jumped back. He was not expecting the freezing feeling. He sighed to himself. He could feel an unwelcome memory pop into his head of an event that had happened probably a little more than a year ago. _"Here daddy, you can finish it!" He remembered the snowy day some time last year. This year there was no snow. But his family was missing…_

He threw a glance at the very aggravating sloth to see if he had noticed any sign of Manny's sudden weakness. But Sid wasn't paying attention, he was just now finishing his fourth flower. _'And he says I have a weight problem.'_ Manny thought to himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey! It was not four flowers," Sid protested. " I only had… ehh. Two!"

"Suuuuure." Crash rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"And Manny's just poufy. We've heard it all." Eddie shook his head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After the two had finished their breakfast, they continued walking to nowhere. Sid constantly begged Manny for a break, and Manny's response was always the same. Sid began chomping on an apple that he still had left over from breakfast, and telling a story that Manny was not interested in.

"And so she pulls this hair off my shoulder and says, 'If you have an extra mating dance, at least pick a female with the same color pelt,' right? And I thought- woah! She's gonna go praying mantis on me. 'Ya know what I'm sayin'?" Sid said in his usual irritating voice. The two walked in some beautiful scenery, the colors from the sun rise, and the land all mixed into one elegant icy landscape. But the mammoth was too annoyed to look at the scenery.

"Hey, if you find a mate in life you should be loyal. In your case- grateful! Now get away from me."

"Well I think mating for life is stupid." Sid said, taking a bite out of the juicy apple, then throwing the core behind him. "I mean there's plenty of Sid to go around-" Sid bumped into Manny's thick leg. Why had Manny just randomly stopped? "Manny?" Sid was confused; he knew the mammoth saw something. He decided to walk under the mammoth to get a look. "Manny?" Sid was stopped in surprise, his eyes widened in surprise as he saw…

Nadia, soaked, in the river. The swift river flow captured her long strands of hair, she looked up to see the animals in front of her. She looked down gently at her sleeping baby in the blanket he was in. The cold water would do him no good. If she could just get him onto land…

Nadia inched closer to the shore, using a log as her guide. Closer, closer, suddenly, a light current caught her. Nadia used what little energy she had left in her to her advantage. She glided toward the shore, and laid painfully on a rock. _Just… save my baby._ She prayed, placing Roshan on the dry rock. The baby was about to slip into the water, when Manny felt himself unknowingly place his trunk to save the baby from falling back into the river. She smiled at Manny who smiled at her. Manny felt sudden empathy for this human. Nadia smiled, assured her baby was in good care, she set her head down.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Diego looked at Manny from across the fire. His eyes sparkled golden emerald with the glow of the fire cast upon them. "And… that was the baby's mother. I guess… I'm responsible for her death." Diego gritted his teeth.

"No… Diego, you're…" Manny stuttered, _yes_, Manny said in his head, he never really thought about that moment that way until now.

Diego drew in a long sigh. "Wow, I never really thought of it that way. I guess it's because of me that the kid's growin' up with out a mom."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Crash attempted to make Diego feel better.

Manny looked at Ellie, who looked at Diego, concerned. Manny had never seen Diego like this before. "Well, it wasn't your fault, really." Ellie said in her pure, wind chime voice. "You said it yourself. Soto was really the one who was making you hunt so intensely, it's not like you had a choice. The Diego I know would never run a mother and baby off of a… well you know." Ellie smiled at Diego sweetly.

"We're here for you buddy." Sid threw his arm around Diego's soft shoulders.

Diego made a face. "Thanks… Sid. Please… take your arm off." Diego smirked.

"Sorry." Sid grinned goofily. Manny smiled at the weird yet, in a way touching moment. He looked at the possums on the tree next to him who were using their tails to swing on a branch together.

"Okay… let's hear the rest!" Eddie said grinned eagerly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Manny brought the baby closer toward himself and Sid, once the baby was on the solid rock ground he stirred. Hiccupping, gurgling and laughing. Sid had never been this close to an actual human before, the pink baby was adorable!

"Look at that. He's okay!" Sid cheered, watching the baby's pure face beam with a smile. Sid and Manny then looked to where the mother was lying not just a few moments ago. "She's… gone?" Sid said, mystified.

Manny looked at the baby once, then to Sid, then he looked ahead to the distance. He began walking.

"M-m-m-m- Manny. Manny, wait- aren't you forgetting something?"

"No."

"But you just saved him." Sid said in disbelief.

"Yeah, well I'm still trying to get rid of the last thing I saved."

"But you can't leave him here." Sid murmured. He looked down at the little baby, who cooed when he saw Sid struggling to pick him up. Sid looked in the distance over the thunderous waterfall.

"Look, there's smoke, that's his herd, right up the hill." Sid walked toward Manny, "we should return him." Sid played with the baby with his one claw, and then bumped into Manny.

"Let's get something straight here, okay? There is no _we._ There never was a _we_. In fact, without _me_, there wouldn't even be a _you_."

"… Just up the hill." Sid said in a soft voice.

"Let's get something straight here, okay. I'm…not…going." Manny argued, raising his trunk to emphasize his words.

"Fine, be a jerk." Sid mumbled, "I'll take care of him."

"Oh yeah, that's good." Manny said sarcastically. "You'll take care of him," he mumbled. "You can't even take care of yourself!" He shouted. "This I gotta see!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"There, see returning the baby wasn't such a bad idea, Manny. You got a whole happy family out of it." Sid said to his larger friend. Ellie was about to say something in response when…

"Ow! Crash!" Eddie and Crash's voices sounded, making weird bickering noises. Causing the tree they were in to shake, and the twins fell out, and hit the ground. Crash laughed at his brother, who slapped him in return.

"Sorta." Diego added.

Ellie chuckled, wrapping her trunk around Manny's.

**Sorry, I expected to get to the part where Manny and Sid meet Diego, but the chapter would have been way too long. But I promise that comes up in the next chapter! : ) I haven't updated in a while. Thanks for sticking with me you guys! I really appreciate it! Please review! It makes me happy! : ]**


	6. Meet Diego

**Wow, I haven't been on in a while! = ] Hope everyone has a happy new year! And yes! Diego is finally in this chapter!**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Six- Meet Diego_

"Alright, alright guys settle down!" Manny raised his voice at the bickering brothers. "Diego, technically, it's not your fault." Manny looked back at Diego in attempt to confirm his point. Crash and Eddie ran from the tree branch, up their sister's back and on to her tusks, and nodded to the tiger in unison. Sid nodded, tossing another thin twig into the fire that seared in response.

"I know." Diego said in attempt to get rid of his guilty feeling.

"Ok, so we know how Sid and Manny met," Eddie said, changing the subject, "but how did _you_ meet them?"

"Yeah!" Crash exclaimed, "and how did you guys end up traveling together?"

Diego stretched in his place as Sid stared into the fire, "well," Diego began, yawning "I had a really hard time climbing down that one cliff. But it was the only way to get down to the bottom of the falls."

Manny opened his mouth to say something but Sid interrupted, "Wait, guys. You two have been telling the story this whole time! I haven't got to say anything in a while."

"Yeah, we kind of enjoyed the silence." Eddie responded, rolling his eyes.

"Eddie," Ellie glared at her brother then turned to Sid, "that's true, Sid."

"But-" Manny attempted to defend his position. "If Sid ends up telling the story, he'll exaggerate…"

"Manny, you three made that journey _together, _it's only fair to Sid that he can tell his side of the story." Ellie interrupted before Manny could even finish what he was going to say, clearly making her point, Diego and Manny looked at each other, grumbling under their breath.

"Thank you, Ellie." Sid smiled at her.

"No problem sweetie." Ellie smiled at him, "Go ahead Sid!"

"This should be good." Crash said, sarcastically with Eddie rolling his eyes in agreement.

"Since Manny proved that he would be no help to me whatsoever," Sid began, glancing at Manny. "I decided that I would just return the kid, little did I know that it would lead us on a big adventure…"

* * *

"I'll return you." Sid cooed, "we don't need that meanie-weenie mammoth do we? No we don't." Sid said in a singsong voice as the smiling baby looked up at him. Sid eyes winded as he stared at the towering waterfall cliff. He turned to Manny in hopes of assistance, but Manny just motioned Sid to climb the cliff.

_'Go ahead smart one, climb up that giant cliff. You can do it!'_ Manny chuckled to himself in thought.

_'Ok, ok how hard can this be?'_ Sid thought to himself, as he nodded to Manny, _'I'll show him.'_ Sid made sure he was holding the baby securely in his arm, and with his free arm he made a motion to grasp one of the rocks. He missed. Sid tried to get a grip again, and missed again. In his attempts to rub his strength in Manny's face, he decided to get a jumping start. "Ooh!" He groaned, lifting his and Pinky's weight with one arm, he finally made it a few feet off the ground. He shuffled his feet quickly against the rocks in attempt to gain footing. He then was able to hoist his body up and reach for a grip on the rock –which was too far out of reach. The sloth slumped to his left side, and his head hit the rock. _'A little harder than I thought…'_ the sloth thought to him self.

"You're and embarrassment to nature, do you know that?" Manny yelled up to the sloth.

"This is cake!" Sid yelled back, slowly making his way up the cliff, noticing how high he was, "I'm fine, I'm fine," he yelled over his shoulder, then whined quietly to himself, "I'm gonna die."

Sid proceeded climbing, not knowing that the bundle that the baby was wrapped in was beginning to loosen, the tooth holding Roshan's blankets had slipped, next thing Sid felt, Roshan was slipping from his grip. Sid managed to catch the ledge with his paw, and the baby with his foot.

"MANNY!" Sid yelled, alerting the mammoth to catch the human baby. In response, Manny raised his trunk to catch the baby when…

A growl, followed by a blur of tawny flew through the air. Diego landed a large rock, he looked around, in attempt to plan his next move. _'Success!'_ was his first thought, but his thoughts were interrupted by an explosion of pain in his head.

Manny whacked Diego in the head painfully with his thick trunk. The baby flew from Diego's mouth and as quick as a flash-

* * *

_"As quick as a flash?"_ Diego shot Sid a weird look.

"What? It's a simile." Sid said defensively, Manny rolled his eyes. "Can I help it that my story telling methods are superior to yours and Manny's?"

"He's right," Ellie said in a chipper voice causing Sid to smile in sweet satisfaction. "I like it when Sid tells the story, he uses more detail. You and Diego better step up your story telling methods." She smiled teasingly at Manny.

"I think I do a good job telling the story." Manny defended himself.

"I'm better than Sid." Diego added.

Ellie shrugged, "I don't know about that guys."

"Thank you, Ellie." Sid smiled; pleased with the compliments he was getting from Ellie. "Now, where was I?"

* * *

As quick as a flash, Manny caught the baby with his trunk. Diego growled fiercely in defense but suddenly got a hold of himself. Manny growled a low growl at the tiger.

Diego decided to put on a professional face and play it nicely, "Ahem. Um. That pink thing is mine." Diego lied.

"Uhh no," Sid said to the tiger, climbing down from the rocky cliff, "actually, that pink thing belongs to us." Sid then fell from the rocks, "Ow, Ooch, Ow!" Sid then hit the ground face down.

_'This… will be too easy.' _Diego thought to himself. "Us?" The tiger half laughed, "you two are a bit of an odd couple."

"There is NO us!" Manny grumbled to the sloth in a hard tone.

"I see. Can't have one of your own so you wanted to adopt." Diego wisecracked.

"Look," Sid said dragging the baby away from the carnivore, "I'm sorry to interrupt your snack. But _we_ gotta go."

"The baby? Please." Diego jumped on a rock to get closer to Manny, Sid and Little Dinner, "I was returning him to his herd!" The tiger lied.

"Oh yeah! Nice try buck-tooth!" Sid yelled over to Diego, _'liar!'_ Sid thought in his mind.

"You calling me a liar?" Diego growled, running up to the sloth, glaring at him threateningly.

"I didn't say that." Sid said in a soft tone.

"You were _thinkin'_ it!" Diego glared.

"I don't like this cat." Sid whispered to Manfred, "he reads minds."

Diego didn't want to waste anymore time talking to this sloth, so he pretended not to hear that remark. What he really needed was to convince the mammoth to give him the baby. He straightened up and retracted his claws, "Names Diego, friend." Diego said, as friendly as he could muster.

"Manfred," Manny said bluntly, "and I'm not your friend." He glared at Diego.

"Fine." Diego said, ticked off, "Manfred." He said, watching Sid pick up the baby and walk quickly to the mammoth's side. "If you're looking for the humans you're wasting your time. They left this morning." Diego informed the mammoth.

"Thanks for the advice. Now beat it!" Manny said coldly, he turned to Sid. "Alright, I'll help you bring it to its herd, but _promise_ me that you'll leave me alone after that!" He groaned to Sid.

"Okay, okay, deal!" Sid uttered, "hey, what's your problem?"

"_You_ are my problem!" Manny muttered.

"Well I think you're stressed. And that's why you eat so much. I mean, it's hard to get fat on a vegan diet."

Diego now jumped down off of the rock. Those two were stealing Soto's revenge! And if they kept the baby Diego would be the one to face the consequences. Diego looked at the baby who looked at him over Sid's shoulder. Diego let out a chilling, low growl. The baby gurgled, then faced forward.

"I'm not fat." Manny said, defensively, "it's all this fur. It makes me look… poofy."

"Alright, you have fat hair. But when you're ready to talk, I'm here!" Sid said, rolling his eyes.

Diego wasn't giving up that easily! He bounded off silently, he would go up the other end of the cliff, and keep an eye on those two. Maybe if he could get the right words out… that fat mammoth might even give the baby to him!

* * *

"Did you honestly think that Manny would believe you when you said that the baby was _yours?_" Ellie giggled at Diego.

"Um. I don't know." Diego laughed shortly, "uh. I was hoping he would though. You two made my plans so difficult!" Diego muttered to Manny and Sid.

"Well what did you expect us to do? Give a human baby to a carnivore with giant teeth, sharp claws… not to mention your _wonderful_ reputation of killing other animals." Manny replied to Diego, who just shrugged.

"Smart." Diego smirked, looking down into the fire.

"Well duh!' Crash exclaimed!

"You know, Diego, when I first saw you… you freaked me out." Sid said.

"Good!" Diego responded, satisfied, "but your move calling me _'buck tooth'_ wasn't very smart."

"Well I figured as long as my body guard," Sid gestured to Manny grinning, "was here, I'd be fine."

"You know, Sid." Ellie said, "one of these days… you're gonna say something to a carnivore… and Manny won't be there to protect you." Ellie said, raising her eyebrows jokingly.

"Ah- I'll just fight them off."

"Hey! Speaking of fighting things off," Crash said, "Diego, didn't you just go for Manny and get the baby that way?" He said, suggestively.

"He was afraid that Manny might sit on him!" Eddie laughed.

"Hahaha." Manny said sarcastically.

"Well… that's kind of right." Diego said, "A pack of us, and it would be no problem." Diego chuckled at Manny's harsh look, "but... yeah… if I did that, I would probably have been sat on, kicked… or something."

"I cant imagine what it would be like to be sat on by lard- butt over there." Eddie whispered to Crash, the twins laughed together.

"Well in a minute… you two will find out!" Manny glared at the possums.

"That is if you could even catch us!" Crash said. Ellie laughed along with her funny brothers, Diego and Sid just smiled at Manny.

**Okay, sorry this is kind of short. But I'm gonna post another chapter in a day or so. = ] And sorry I haven't updated in a really long time. It's hard to explain why. But thanks to those of you who are sort of sticking with me I'm glad you are! Please review! I have about an hour left to go on this car ride! So maybe I can have the second chapter posted by tomorrow! Thanks for reading! And… HAPPY 2010!!! **


	7. Alliance

**Okay, so everyone knows everyone! So lets get this story on the road! : )**

Campfire Stories

_Chapter Seven- Alliance _

It grew quieter around the fire. The night had distorted itself from dusky gray to a pitch-black night. The only light that the herd could see was from the orange fire. And that reflected by Diego's eyes.

The night sounds were beginning to take place, the cricketing of the crickets, and an intermittent breeze blowing the grass.

"Well, at least we can still see each other with the fire." Ellie flashed her white smile to Manny.

"Thanks to yours truly!" Sid said proudly.

"Well, if the fire went out we could always see with the light coming from demon eyes over there." Crash laughed receiving a knuckle touch from his brother.

Diego made a face at the brothers, "Manny, feel free to sit on those little rodents over there."

"I thought we were _'miscreants'_." Eddie laughed. Diego opened his mouth in defense but couldn't think of anything to say, Sid began laughing.

"Guys…" Ellie playfully shook her brothers off of her tusks.

"Aw. C'mon buddy, they're just messing with you." Sid grinned widely at the saber who just made a face at the sloth in return.

"Okay, okay. Well, I will sit on them if we can't finish the story!" Manny said, obviously annoyed at the brother's interruptions.

"Guys, he's right." Ellie smiled using her trunk to lift the brothers back on her tusks. "No more, we're never gonna get the story finished at this rate." The fire crackled in response.

"Okay, okay," Eddie said, "we'll be good," he smiled evilly at his brother, who laughed.

"Well, after we left Diego, Manny, me and the baby walked up a rocky portion of the cliff to get to the top." Sid began his story, "Manny, was of course complaining about how hard it was to walk up the steep altitude. So I had to take the baby 'cuz it was adding extra weight to carry him, and his legs were getting tired, so he needed my muscles-"

"Sid! If you're gonna tell the story, _tell it right!_" Manny said, "It's supposed

to be what actually happened, not what you were saying." Manny rolled his eyes.

"We could tell." Diego smirked nodding to Manny, Eddie, Crash and Ellie smiled too, and giggled.

"In fact, Sid was the one complaining on the climb…"

* * *

After about a minute after Sid's discussion with Manny, he held the baby as they began walking.

Sid sighed, exhausted from the steep cliff, "hey… Mann… Manny," Sid said between deep breaths, "do you think that you… you could take the baby for a minute. OW!" Sid said stubbing his toe on a small, sharp rock.

Manny scoffed, "No! You're the one who wants to return him, you hold him, give him to the humans and then you can leave me alone! Jeez, and you call _me _out of shape!" The mammoth grumbled. He looked up to see light, mixing with the white air he breathed out. It _was_ getting very cold! "We're near the top. Just put the baby on top of the cliff."

Sid gasped, resting on Manny's tusk. "Okay, Okay. Just give me a minute to… build my strength back up." Sid grinned dopily at the mammoth who rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Ready?" Manny asked impatiently.

"Ok!" Sid said. He stretched his arms out, in attempt to put the baby on the ledge. "Uhh… hm." Sid deliberated with himself on how he would do the maneuver.

"What are you doing? Just drop it on the ledge!" Manny hissed at the sloth impatiently. The baby landed on the cliff edge with a giggle. He began crawling to the desolated wreck of his familiar home, but he couldn't tell the difference, he cooed at the site of his home.

"Shouldn't we make sure they found him?" Sid whispered to Manny.

"Good idea." Manny said, wrapping his trunk around the sloth.

"Oh no no no no no! No wait wait wait wait–AHHHHH!" Sid screamed once Manny threw him up to the human's campsite. "DON'T SPEAR ME!" Sid yelled for mercy, covering his eyes. Once the sloth realized nothing was happening, he uncovered his eyes to find the human site completely destroyed, and abandoned. "Oh… This is a problem," the sloth said, nervously drumming is fingers together.

"Now what?" The mammoth spoke annoyed, approaching the sloth. He saw the smoke from the smothered fire, the turned over items, and the damaged tents. Not to mention, there were no humans in site. _'Great… The tiger was right.'_ Manny mentally groaned. "Oh! That's perfect!" Manny murmured sarcastically, he was ready to explode with anger. Why? Why did _everything… happen… to him?_

Manny followed the crawling baby, to make sure that nothing would happen to him, not that it would really affect him in any way. The baby smiled while he attempted to bat at a circular bead on a clothes line.

Sid followed after the mammoth and the baby. He smiled to himself watching the baby as he blissfully crawled around his campsite. Sid smiled as he walked under a clothesline. He looked over his shoulder, happily as he saw the beads on the line. He continued walking, and, not paying attention walked into a rake which ended up smacking him right in the face. _'OW'_ he sighed in his mind, his foot throbbed in pain as he lay on the ground.

Manny walked, supervising the baby, and looking around at the destroyed home, something had obviously happened here, not too long ago. He looked down at the baby who went up to his bed. He cooed happily as he hugged the familiar item in his life. Manny looked down at the baby, feeling a hint of kindred sadness. The baby noticed a figure coming his way, he tipped backward, and landed in a weaved basket. Manny looked up to see the familiar tiger. _'Peachy!'_ Manny thought sarcastically.

"I told you they were gone." Diego said plainly. Sid noticed the tiger and ran up to Manny.

"Well, look who it is," Manny said, irritated, "don't you have some poor, defenseless animal to disembowel?" He muttered to the tiger, sarcastically.

"Ah. They couldn't be far." Sid suggested, "I mean they went this way… or this way… or maybe. Hmmm." Sid put his finger to his mouth as he crouched to the ground, in attempt to see human footprints.

_'Oh, God!'_ Diego hissed in his head. "You don't know much about tracking, do you?" Diego hissed at the sloth belittlingly. But it obviously didn't affect Sid that much.

"Hey I'm a sloth," Sid said carelessly, picking up a stick and breaking it in half, "I see a tree, eat a leaf, that's my tracking!" He smiled, stupidly.

Diego decided now would show off his superior skill to the mammoth, "you didn't miss them by much." He said, picking up a stick with his paw and examining it, "it's still green… They headed north two hours ago." Diego looked at the sloth in an _I'm-better-than-you_ glare.

Sid rolled his eyes and imitated Diego in a totally stupid voice, sticking sticks in his mouth to look like sabers, "It's still green… they headed north two hours ago."

The baby laughed, amused, he fell down on a stick which in effect flipped a fish that was resting on the other end. The fish was soon in the air –and on Manny's face. Manny's glare hardened _'why me '_He thought infuriated.

"You don't need this aggravation." Diego said smoothly, "give _me_ the baby." Hi insisted, pulling the baby closer to him with his claw, "I can track humans down a lot faster than you can."

_'Nice try,'_ Manny's gazed at the saber, '_I'm not stupid!'_ He thought. "And you're just a good citizen helping out, right?" He pulled the baby away from the dangerous carnivore with his trunk.

"I just know where the humans are going!" Diego retorted, swiftly pulling the baby his way.

"Glacier Pass!" Manny replied, "everybody knows they have a settlement on the other side."

Diego thought to himself before he responded in attempt to find the right words, finally he thought of something. "Well unless you know how to track, you're never gonna reach them before the pass closes up with snow. Which should be like, _tomorrow._" Manny raised his eyebrows, the tiger obviously knew what he was talking about. And it was true that Manny or Sid had no idea how to "track". Diego continued, "So… you can give that baby to _me_, or go get lost in a blizzard. It's your choice…"

A pre-historic light bulb went off in Manny's head. He was obviously not gonna let that carnivore _near_ the baby. But they could use a good nose…

Manny picked the cooing baby up with his trunk, gently. He motioned the baby over Diego's head –teasing the tiger that growled softly in happiness.

_'Yes! Once I get that baby, I thank the mammoth for his… heh… smart decision. And I run outta here. Then, Soto has his revenge… and I'm safe. Then I can rub it into Oscar's ugly face! Then-"_

Manny plopped the baby into Sid's hands. The sloth's face glowed with abundant joy, he gazed up at the beautiful mammoth! Meanwhile, Diego's face twisted with disgust.

"Here's your little bundle of joy. We're returning it to the humans." Manfred announced.

Now that Manny was protecting Sid, he could mouth off to the tiger, "Ahw! The big bad tigey-wigey gets left behind, poor tigey-wigey…" Sid cooed, laughing, rubbing Diego on the nose.

_'Watch it…' _Diego snarled fiercely in his mind but he had the self control to refrain from killing the sloth.

"Sid… tigey-wigey is gonna lead the way." Manny said over his shoulder.

Sid grinned goofily at the tiger who grinned back. It was not what Diego was hoping for, but he could work around this. "Uh. Uh, Manny. Can- can I talk to you for a second…" Sid ran closer to the large mammoth.

"No." Came the irritated reply. "The sooner we find the humans, the sooner I get rid of mister stinky-drool face. And the baby too." Sid turned around, still holding the baby, he glanced at the saber fearfully.

"You won't always have jumbo around to protect you. And when that day comes. I suggest you watch your back. 'Cuz I'll be chewing on it." Diego spat the threat, rolling his eyes, he glared at the sloth and stinky, then walked grudgingly up to Manfred.

"Hey Uber tracker! Up front, where I can see you!" Manny yelled back to Diego.

"Help… me." Sid said silently.

* * *

"Wow!" Crash exclaimed, "guess you had no choice to let buck-tooth in on it." Crash laughed along with his brother.

"No," Manny replied, "I really didn't have any choice."

"But you guys wouldn't have gotten anywhere if it weren't for me." Diego bragged.

"True." Manny admitted, glancing at Ellie.

"Well, we would have frozen to death at night if it weren't for the lord of the flame." Sid muttered, tossing a few extra twigs into the blaze. He blew on the fire a few times.

Diego shrugged.

"Okay boys, now you have it started! Keep going!" Ellie giggled, giving Manfred a quick kiss.

"Gross!" Eddie exclaimed!

**A/N: I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so SO **

**Sorry. For not updating when I had promised. A lot of issues came up. Its pretty complicated, (not to mention, exams were a contributing factor.)**

**But now that my exam week is over. I will try to have an update ready every week. Cuz I noticed that I started writing this on March 15****th****. And I would really love to have it finished with in a year. : ) Please review! Thanks for sticking with me for so long!**


	8. Taking Care of the Baby

**Hey you guysssss : ] Kay! I'm finally meeting these deadlines I'm setting for myself! Yay!**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Eight-Taking care of the baby_

"It's not _gross!_" Manny turned to the possums, "it's called a kiss. Someday, you two might get one." Manny smirked to himself, proud of his comeback.

"Oh! He just got you guys!" Ellie giggled at her brothers who just stared at the mammoths in shock.

"I've gotta hand it to you Manny, that was good!" Diego complimented.

Sid nodded in agreement, "I applaud you on that one!"

"Touché," Eddie muttered, in defeat.

Crash fidgeted, "okay, what happened next?"

"Well," Manny began, "we started walking for a long, long time. It felt like years, especially once the kid started crying."

* * *

It was not very long after the strange group began their journey before the smallest member began to cry. "Oh shh. Shh!" Sid hushed the screaming baby, "it's okay little buddy." Sid began to make silly faces to try to calm the baby down. Manny and Diego, ahead of the sloth, rolled their eyes. A draft of biting frost blew by.

"He's cold, hold him closer!" Manny yelled to the sloth.

"No, no! I don't think that's it." Sid contradicted the mammoth.

"Oh, okay, then _you_ tell me what it wants." Manny replied, exasperated.

"Uhh…not quite sure at the moment…" Sid spoke with difficulty, while trying to hold the squirming and screaming baby. "But ah- how long could this go on for? I mean, he's gonna get tired out in about five minutes!" Sid said reassuringly.

Manny groaned, this was perfect. He was traveling with a portable migraine, possibly the most infuriating animal that ever lived; and to top it all off, a completely dangerous animal that is clearly hiding something. Great… just great.

Diego growled silently through his teeth. He couldn't believe that this was happening. His plan was so close to failing, and if that happened there's no telling what Soto would do. And this… _noise_ was not relieving any stress, Diego could not wait to have that thing dead. He would just have to stay with Manny and Sid until night and once they were asleep… he would sneak out with the baby!

Sid just followed along the two other animals. That stupid tiger thought he was so smart. And that mammoth… what was he always so crabby about? _All the time?_ Who cares though, he was the real hero of the day! He was the only one who cared about the baby. He was the only one who wanted to help him, Sid sighed, still gripping the squealing baby in his arms. Yes, any minute the baby would be calmed all thanks to Sid… any minute…

About an hour later…

The sun rose higher in the sky, replacing the early morning pinks, with late morning oranges. In contrast to the sun rise, the temperatures continued to drop.

"_Ahhhhh. Ahhhhhh. Ahhhhh!"_ The baby continued to cry his eyes out.

"Oh. You gotta make it stop," Manny moaned, "I can't take it anymore!"

"I've eaten things that didn't complain this much!" Diego snarled over his shoulder.

"He won't stop squirming!" Sid complained, now finding it more difficult than ever to keep a hold on Roshan.

"You're holding it wrong!" Diego remarked.

"Watch its head!" Manny yelled.

"Just… put it down!" Diego growled.

"Sheesh. Pick him up, put him down, pick him up-annananana." Sid mocked Diego and Manny. **(A/N: Sorry, I didn't do a very good job on the mocking noises. )** Sid gently set the resonant human baby on a large rock to get a good look at him; Diego and Manny came up to the side of Sid.

"Its nose is dry!" Diego observed.

"That means something is wrong with it." Sid said.

"Someone should lick it. Just in case!"

"I'll do it!" Sid volunteered, sticking his tong out toward the baby eagerly.

_'No kid, no matter how loud, deserves that!'_ Manny thought to himself, shuttering then he noticed something. "Hey! He's wearing one of those baby thingies."

"So?" Sid said, with his tong still out.

Manny groaned, "so if he poops, where does it go?" Manny asked, irritated. Sid retracted his tong, he frowned, disgusted. Diego even revealed a disgusted face.

"Humans… are… disgusting!" Sid remarked, holding the baby out, directly in front of the tiger's face. Diego's ears shifted downward, against his head in disgust.

"Okay, _you,_" Manny, poked Sid roughly with his trunk, "check for poop."

"Hey, why am I the poop-checker?"

"Because returning the runt was your idea!" Manny's voice was course, his face lowered to Sid's level. "Because you're small and insignificant." Sid shrunk as Manny's angry face got even closer, " and because I'll pummel you if you don't!" Manny threatened.

"Uhh. Why else?"

"NOW SID!" Manny shouted at the sloth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Wow Manny, even though it's Sid… you were being a jerk." Crash laughed, Eddie nodded in agreement.

"Guys, it's Sid." Manny laughed, receiving a look from the sloth, "no offense –but you were really, _really_ annoying." Diego nodded in agreement.

"Were?" Eddie laughed, "uh… he's still pretty annoying."

"Guys… can you be quiet so Manny can finish the story? Right now, you two are being annoying." Ellie muttered to her brothers.

"Fine… fine. I wanted to have a nice discussion about the story, but no." Crash retorted to his sister.

"Making fun of Sid is _not_ discussion." Ellie said rolling her eyes. "Sorry to disappoint you guys. "Manny, you can keep going." Ellie smiled at her mate.

"Okay… where was I?" The mammoth asked no one in particular. Before anyone around the fire was able to answer…

* * *

Sid proceeded to change the baby's "poop thingie". Then Sid noticed that there was nothing in the diaper, it was time he got to have some fun. Sid smiled to himself when he thought of a prank he could pull on the guys.

"Eew! Yuck! EEW!" Sid emphasized every word as he changed the diaper. "I mean, my goodness. Alright, look out, look out, coming through!" Sid warned the two other companions. He took the diaper off of the baby, and began to pretend that he was loosing his balance. Sid swung the diaper around.

"Hey, hey! Watch out!" Manny gasped.

Sid decided to wave the diaper right in front of the tiger's face, "stop waving that thing around!" Diego said, flinching.

"Ooh! Ooh! I'm gonna slip!" Sid exclaimed as he got closer to Manny with the diaper, he smiled to himself. "Woah!" Sid uttered, releasing the diaper onto the mammoth's face!

"Ahhh!" Manny shouted, "Eww! Yuck!" He groaned, swiping the diaper off of his face swiftly. When he realized that there was nothing in the diaper, this realization was accompanied with Sid's laughter.

"It's clean! Gotcha! Ahaha," the sloth snickered hysterically, proud of his prank.

"Will you cut it out?" Manny said, hitting Sid roughly in the head with his trunk.

There was a brief silence, the baby stopped to stare at the dazed sloth for a moment. He giggled happily for a moment, then Sid shook his head, coming to his senses after the hard blow.

"Hey do that again! He likes it!" Diego said exultantly.

Manny hit Sid again, harder this time. He smiled to himself as the baby gurgled with excitement and joyful giggles."Yeah!" Manny agreed, and it's making me feel better too!" He smiled.

"Here you hold it." Sid walked over to Diego, practically begging the tiger to hold the baby. _'How about this instead?'_ Diego thought to himself. He smacked Sid hard in the back of the head.

Sid once again shook his head. He saw little pink fingers reaching for his face, probably to hit him. "Ah. Hey, hey, hey –ah!" Sid voiced his protest against the baby's fingers reaching for his face. The baby continued to cry.

"Here! Turn him towards me!" Diego growled, pushing Sid out of his way. Saber cubs always enjoyed this game. Diego figured that human cubs would be no different. Diego put on the widest, jolliest smile that he could muster. "Where's the baby?" Diego asked the inquisitive baby, whose eyes grew about ten sizes. "There he is!" This was going pretty smoothly. Diego revealed his eyes, getting closer to the baby. "Where's the baby?" Diego asked again. "THERE HE IS!" Diego vocalized, loudly.

The baby screamed even louder that time, "Stop it! You're scaring him!" Manny hit Diego lightly with his trunk, getting the saber away from the baby. Then, the animals heard a noise that came from the baby, his stomach growled.

"I'll bet he's hungry!" Sid concluded. The baby was now silenced, he cooed in his spot on the rock.

"How 'bout some milk?" Manny suggested.

"Ooh! I'd love some!" Sid said happily, bumping his claws together.

Diego had put up with that sloth's stupidity all day! It was getting irritating, "not you! The baby!" Diego hissed.

"Well I ain't exactly lactating right now, pal." Sid spoke annoyed at Diego.

"You're a little low on the food chain to be mouthin off, aren't you-"

"ENOUGH!" Manny shouted at the two annoyances that had unfortunately been introduced into his life. _Enough, enough, enough, enough…_ echoed through out the landscape. Then, the gang heard something drop in bushes near by. It was a melon!

"Food!" Manny and Sid said together, in a way excited. Diego just glared slightly at the two. Manny picked up the melon, but instantly…

"BAWK! BAKAK!" A dodo bird shot into the air- grabbing the melon from the mammoth's trunk swiftly. "BAKAK!" The dodo ran as fast as he could to the dodo campsite. Manny, Sid, Diego and even the baby stared at the spot where the bird had been in shock.

_'Weird.'_ Sid thought to himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What? A dodo?" Ellie laughed hysterically as all three of the animals nodded. "That's pretty random."

"Yeah, " Manny agreed, true.

"Wow, from what you said, Diego and Sid then don't sound any different they how they are now." Eddie observed.

Diego and Sid looked at each other, "uhh sorta." The two said in unison.

"Ah- yeah, I guess when they bicker it's the same." Manny said, "but you guys do get along better than you did then."

"Duh." Diego said to Manny, smiling slightly.

"You all seem like you guys get along. It's actually really cool that you three became really good friends. Especially after hearing details about your first day." Ellie said happily.

"Trust me, it gets even better!" Sid exclaimed, excited, "wait till you hear what happens next…"

**There you have it! A few minutes after midnight. Haha! I really wanted to stick to my deadline. I'm a little late. Haha! But I actually had a lot of trouble with writing/editing this chapter for some reason. I hope you still liked it! Please review : )**


	9. Dinner and a Show

**Hey! Wow, thanks a lot for all of your reviews! : ) This chapter includes the Dodos and Diego sneaking behind Manny's back during the evening! Thanks for reading = ]**

_Campfire Stories _

_Chapter Nine- Dinner and a show_

"What happened?" Eddie asked, eagerly settling next to his brother on a tree branch. "We wanna know!" He exclaimed eagerly, receiving a knuckle touch from Crash.

"Yeah!" Crash cried.

"Well," Sid began, waddling away from where he was sitting to gather more sticks for the fire.

"Well," Manny continued, stealing Sid's story-telling privileges. "After the uh… Dodo bird… ran away. We decided that the melon would be the only food that we could find the baby for a while. So…"

"Hey! I was telling the story!" Sid objected, tossing more wood to feed the fire.

"You've been telling it!" Manny exclaimed, irritated. Diego and Ellie looked into each other's eyes, on the brink of laughter. "Anyway…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sid, Diego, and Manny with the baby all quickly followed after the bird, dumbfounded once they saw a boot camp of dodos!

"I don't know, but I've been told," the dodo leader shouted.

"I don't know, but I've been told," a line of dodos, following the leader chanted after.

"End of the world be mighty cold!"

"End of the world be mighty cold!"

"Prepare for the ice age!" One dodo on top of a small cliff shouted across the boot camp of flipping dodos, and troop lines of the small birds.

"Protect the dodo way of life!" Another dodo yelled.

"Survival separates the dodos from the beasts!" One of the dodos on top of another small cliff yelled to the camp of dodos, while unknowingly knocking the dodo next to him off of the small ledge.

"Prepare for the Ice Age!" One other dodo yelled.

"Ice age?" Sid asked, behind Manny's tusk. Manny, Sid and Diego were all hidden to the side of the boot camp, in hopes that they could just sneak out of the camp with a melon to feed the baby –not knowing what they were in for.

Diego scoffed, "I've heard of these crack-pots."

The dodo that snatched the melon from strange group of mammals set the melon on a half stump along with two other melons. He looked to his side, and then squawked when he realized who had followed him. "Bakak! Intruders!" He alerted. He ran through the camp, "Intruders, intruders!" He yelled, running around like a chicken without a head.

"Now," A dodo, who seemed to be coaching three other dodos said, "don't fall in." He said, over a boiling pit of mud, "if you do, you will definitely-''

"Intruders! Intruder- ahhhhh!" The crazed dodo was running so fast that he had not been paying attention to where he was going- he fell into the boiling mud.

"Burn and die." The coach dodo finished, receiving weird looks from the dodos that he was teaching, and disturbed noises.

Manny, Diego and Sid approached the group of dodos. Sid was holding the baby in his arms. "Hey, can we have our melon back?" Manny asked, pointing to the baby with his trunk he continued, "juniors' hungry and-''

"NO WAY!" The dodo coach yelled, "this is our private stock pile for the ice age!" The dodo exclaimed, running to the stump in protection of the melon. "Sub-arctic temperatures will force us underground for a million, billion years!" He exclaimed ostentatiously to the three mammals.

Manny kept an unimpressed expression, "so you got three melons?"

The troop of dodos glanced down at their dwindling supply of food that was supposed to last generations of dodos. The leader attempted to turn the attention back to Manny, Sid and Diego. "If you weren't smart enough to plan ahead, then doom on you!" He shouted, shifting his weight on top of the melon, encouraging the dodos to follow him.

"Doom on you. Doom on you. Doom on you." A whole gang of dodos chanted, as they tried to corner Manny. Diego and Sid were, to their advantage, not the main concern of the dodos at the moment.

"Get away from me." Manny murmured, backing up while trying to keep the baby protected, he whipped his trunk, to try to get the birds away.

The dodo coach fell off of the melon he was guarding. It rolled directly into the baby's pink hands, he cooed in happiness.

"Retrieve the melon!" The dodo coach commanded, "t…t… Taekwondodos… attack!" He commanded. He and a few other dodos rapidly flipped into the air. "Hee-ya!" The three landed, furtive, for dodos, on the ground. Sid and Diego now stepped to both sides of Manny.

"Ouch!" One of the dodos yelled as he was kicked by one of the "Taekwondodos".

"Ahh!" Another yelled as he was kicked by one of the dodos. This dodo just happened to land on his head, but right near the baby, immediately, the dodo kicked the melon out of the baby's hands. "Yah-'' he grunted, kicking the melon. Roshan looked to where the melon used to be, then to the side, in the direction the melon was kicked.

"Yah!"

"Aaaha!"

"Huah!"

"Heh!" A line of dodos all made grunting noises as they kicked the melon in attempt to return in to the stump. The melon, however ended up flying over the cliff's edge due to the clumsy dodos kicking it.

"The melon!" A dodo screamed, looking over the cliff's edge. Several other dodos gasped and all ran to the edge of the cliff.

"The melon! The melon! The melon! The melon!" All of the dodos screamed, stupidly following the melon off of the cliff.

"The melon- ahhh!" A female dodo exclaimed frantically, again following the train of dodos off of the cliff.

"There goes our last female." One of the dodos muttered to another, who gulped in response.

'_I'll bet that I can get one of those melons!'_ Sid thought to himself. He snuck behind a crowd of dodos to the stump, got a grip on a round melon. But it was not too long before the dodos noticed what was going on.

"Bakak!" They all gasped.

A few dodos mobbed Sid, the melon slid easily out of his clumsy hands. After a few kicks, the melon flew from the sloth almost into a boiling mud pit. Three of the dodos attempted to catch it with their beaks.

"I got it. Got it. Got it! Got it!" They all yelled in unison, but all three slipped and fell into the boiling mud pits –along with the prized melon.

Sid decided to put his plan into action again, no matter what, he would get the baby some food. He grasped onto the only melon on the stump. The dodos nevertheless, noticed Sid grabbing for the melon right before he touched it. "The last… melon!" Sid was then mobbed by all of the dodos! The melon flew out of the sloth's hands- once again. Manny caught it in his trunk; he tried to raise it over the dodos' heads –just barley protecting the melon. A dodo then became sidetracked; he stared at Manny's tail, which was swinging back and fourth. Temptation became too tough for the dodo; he jumped up and bit Manny's tail, hard.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Manny yelled, shocked by the sudden pain.

The melon, luckily, bounced from one dodo's head, hit another one, hit another until the melon flew surprisingly towards Sid. And even more surprisingly, Sid caught it! He smiled to himself, but then realized that he was being challenged. Dodos everywhere stomped their feet. It was Sid against about thirty dodos. This challenge might be too much for him –but then he looked over the dodo crowd. He looked past the mammoth staring at him; the saber even was staring in anticipation. Sid then saw the baby gasp, reaching out to him. This, made Sid feel empowered.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Woah!" The possum brothers, and their sister gasped.

"Wait," Crash said, "so _you_ were about to be mobbed by a flock of angry dodos?" The possum gazed at Sid, almost in disbelief.

"Yeah!" Sid stood up proudly, "wait till you guys hear how I handled this situation."

Diego looked at Manny, he snickered, "all day Sid was being annoying, but then I see him-''

"Don't ruin the story!'' Sid exclaimed in a mocking voice.

Diego rolled his eyes.

Ellie smiled excitedly, "okay, Sid why don't _you_ tell us about your victory."

"Hey! I was telling the story!" Manny complained.

"Well, it's Sid's part." Ellie shrugged at Manny.

"Thank you Ellie, I do think that I am the best story teller out of those two."

"She didn't say that." Diego muttered.

Sid ignored him, "So I was surrounded by those freaky birds."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sid drew in a breath, preparing himself for the worst. He stuck out his paw and began running through the crowd of crazed dodos. "No!" He hit the first dodo in the beak with his paw. Continued his quest through the long line of malicious birds. He used the melon to smack another one of the dodos in the face.

Sid ducked under a few dodos that jumped at him. They landed defeated, one on top of another. Sid turned around and again hit a dodo. Then, the remaining dodos made a mad charge at Sid. The only way out of that crowd was…

Sid leapt into the air as high as he could go. His legs perfectly behind his butt, his arms stretched out protecting the melon like a football. Sid refused to give up the melon to a clan of deranged birds when it could help the sweet, and innocent baby. Sid landed on the ground, hard. Manny, Diego and the baby cringed at the blow. And then…Sid jumped up holding the melon, victorious! _'Touch down!'_ Sid thought in his head.

'_I can't believe it!'_ Manny thought to himself, he jumped up slightly in excitement. This was the first time he truly smiled since that sloth decided to tag along.

'_Why am I entertained by this?'_ Diego asked himself, noticing his smile at the sloth's victory. Oh well, he might as well have fun with what was going on before his plans to sneak out later that night.

The baby cheered, his pink face, turning rosy in delight.

Sid jumped happily at his victory. The dodos all hung their heads –in shame of their defeat. Sid motioned in himself in a victory dance. He jumped up once more to make emphasize his victory, smashed the melon on the ground. _'Touchdown! – Uh-oh.'_ Sid cringed back –realizing his mistake. The melon smashed on the ground. Ruined!

"Ahh Sid!" Diego sneered, "now we've gotta find more food!" Diego glowered at the sloth along with Manny. But their expressions changed once they say the baby inch to the melon pieces and munch on them happily.

Then, the three animals and baby watched the remaining dodos stacked on top of each other, for some odd reason. Struggling to keep a hold of each other, they gave the dodo on the bottom directions.

"To the right."

"More to the right."

"The right."

Came the muttering voices. Manny rolled his eyes, as the baby giggled. Diego and Sid just watched in amusement, despite Diego's current situation.

"Hey look at that," Manny commented, "dinner and a show."

The dodos then realized that they were going the wrong way, headed for the edge of the cliff. "Left!" Came the various voices.

"Left!"  
"Left!"

"LEFT!"

"LEFT! Ahhhhh!" The birds screamed as they tumbled off of the cliff. One dodo managed to keep his ground for about a second, soon gravity kicked in, and he was sent spiraling down the cliff.

"WOAH!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So basically, because of you three, all of those dodos were wiped out in a few minutes?" Ellie chuckled.

Manny laughed along with her, "uh, yeah I guess that's right."

"I knew that dodos were not the smartest, but I had no idea that they were that stupid." Ellie said.

"Well, it was their choice to fall off of the cliff." Diego said shrugging.

"That's true." Eddie nodded to Diego.

"Hey, so what else happened?" Crash asked Sid.

"Well, once the baby was done eating, we kept walking for a while."

"But we stayed in the general area, because it was getting darker, they sun was beginning to set quickly." Manny added.

**Hey! I didn't want to make this chapter too long, but I'm gonna post two new chapters this week. One will be pretty short, it was gonna be the other part of this chapter, but I decided that it would make it way too long to read. I'll probably post it tonight, tomorrow night at the latest. Thanks for reading! Please review! : )**


	10. Underhanded

**Thanks for the reviews guys! Okay, like I said this chapter will be a little shorted, but I'm gonna post another one between now and next Sunday : )**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Ten- Underhanded _

"Uh- Manny, I believe that I was telling the story." Sid interjected.

"Well, I believe that you've been telling it for too long." Manny said, "Ellie, could you help me out here?" Manny turned to his mate.

"Yeah Ellie, what do you think?"

Ellie's olive eyes flickered over the campfire, "I think that…" She noticed Diego examining his claws, retracting them in and out. "That Diego hasn't had a turn in a while."

"Me," Diego asked, "ah. Oh yeah! Well –''

"Him? Ahh come on, Ellie, I'm better than he is." Sid whined.

Diego glared at the sloth, and smacked him hard in the back of his head.

"Ow! Ellie, Diego should loose his story telling privileges because of his violent behavior." Sid said, Diego rolled his glowing eyes.

"Hey Sid! I think you should shut up so we can actually hear the end of the story." Crash said, swinging from his tail on his Ellie's tusk.

"Yeah, I think that you should loose your story telling privileges because of your _annoying_ behavior!" Eddie exclaimed across the fire, he too was swinging on Ellie's tusk.

"Well, I just don't think that Diego sets the scene as well as –''

"Shut… up." Diego said, giving the sloth a glare shaking his head.

"But-''

"SHUT UP!" The group yelled.

Sid slouched, "okay, tigey-wigey, I guess I'm out numbered. Go ahead."

Diego rolled his luminescent eyes, "okay. So, like Manny said, we walked for a little bit, but it got dark pretty quickly. So we decided to settle down for the night. And besides, I had to act tired and like I was gonna go to sleep soon for my plan to take effect."

Manny gave Diego a look, and Diego grinned to him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Okay now." Sid said to the other two animals as they settled in for night. The sky was now a dark shade of indigo, almost fully dark. "The baby has been fed, so I'm going out for something." Sid announced.

"Why don't you just have some berries off of this bush?" Manny asked, swiping a few frosted berries off of the bush.

"They're half frozen." Sid complained. "I'm gonna find something else."

"Suit your self," Manny grumbled, he was holding the baby, who rubbed his eyes sleepily. Manny looked at Sid who was waddling away. '_That idiot. He's not gonna get anything, then he'll complain how hungry he is.'_ Manny thought in disgust. He turned to Diego.

Diego was just sitting on his haunches a little ways away. Manny scoffed, _'I don't trust that tiger as far as I could throw him. And believe me –I could throw him far.'_ After Manny popped two more berries in his mouth he scraped the kid up off of the frosted ground. The baby cooed in happiness as Manny's warm trunk wrapped around him.

"Yeah, don't get so used to it kid." Manny said, keeping a watchful eye on Diego. _'You're up to something. How stupid do you think I am?'_ Manny said in his head.

Meanwhile, Sid had wandered off on his own to find food.

"Now to find a meal befitting a conquering hero!" Sid announced, in a proud voice. He pushed past a stiff tree branch, which in turn ended up smacking Sid in the back of the head, and he fell to the ground.

"What-ho? A foe?" Sid said shocked at the tree, "c'mon, you wanna piece of me? Fetwo Hoooo Ya!" **(again, sorry, not very good sound effects )** Sid punched his fist into the tree as hard as he could, in went into the little hole. Sid grabbed the first thing that he felt. He pulled out an acorn! "Spoils worthy of such a noble –'' The sloth couldn't even finish what he was saying. He popped the acorn into his mouth but was attacked before he could actually eat it.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Scrat, the crazed squirrel, tackled Sid, not willing to give up his worshiped nut. He fought the sloth as hard as he could and soon was reunited with his nut. Scrat left with the acorn tucked safely under his arm. He shook his big fist at the stunned sloth.

_'Okay, now to commence my plan.' _Diego thought to himself.

Manny approached the carnivore and sat down a few feet next to him, not too close. Not too far. He glanced at Diego who's eyes were a glowing emerald. "Nice eyes." Manny muttered, he knew that sabers' eyes glowed at night. But this close was really creeping him out.

"Thanks," Diego sneered sarcastically. _'Easy Diego. It's all gonna pay off soon. Just act… friendly.'_ Diego coached himself mentally. Diego faked a yawn, and then stretched. "Alright. Uh. I'm gonna go to sleep now. I'm pretty tired. Night." Diego said. He attempted to smile, but it came out more like a half smile. Oh well, an animal like Manny didn't deserve a full smile anyway.

"Fine with me." Manny grumbled. Then something caught Manny completely off guard. Diego sat down like he was going to sleep, but before he closed his freaky eyes; he looked directly at the baby. Then the tiger closed his eyes. _'Yeah, you're up to something Diego. Don't think that I don't notice.'_ Manny said mentally. He stared at the tiger, getting an eerie vibe. Manny turned to watch the baby for a few minutes.

The baby looked up at Manny, happily gurgling. He found a small rock and grabbed it. He was playing some kind of game; Manny was just not sure what it was that he was doing. He smiled a little. The baby right now, just playing with everyday objects almost made him think of his own… _'STOP!'_ Manny yelled in his head. He sighed. The feeling of losing his son was never going to go away, would it? He shook his head, in attempt of getting rid of the memories.

_'Perhaps… I miscalculated my time a little.'_ Diego groaned in his mind. It only had been a few minutes, but fake sleeping was really boring.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You were faking it?" Manny said to Diego, in sudden realization.

Diego nodded, "you're surprised?"

"Well… no. I knew that you were up to something, but… I don't know. It really looked like you were sleeping." Manny shrugged.

"Manny, he is the _master_ at fake sleeping, sneaking… anything." Diego bragged, receiving Ellie's giggle.

"You were bad." Sid scolded the tiger.

"Yeah… but just wait. What I tell you next will shock you."

~*~*~*~*~

The round baby yawned, he cooed once Manny lifted him in his trunk once again.

"Bedtime… squirt." Manny murmured to the baby. He laid down and got settled on the ground –a safe distance from the carnivore. He glanced at the tiger. The tiger appeared to be asleep, but something wasn't quite right.

Sid waddled back to camp, rubbing his butt in pain.

"Oh the triumphant return." Manny grumbled sarcastically to Sid.

"Wha- Oh! That," Sid laughed nervously, "I'm… so full." Sid lied, patting his stomach. "How 'bout a good night kiss for your big buddy Sid?" Sid said in a sing song-y voice.

"Shh. He's asleep." Manny muttered, motioning downward to the sleeping baby cuddled up with his warm trunk.

"I was talking to _you_." Sid murmured receiving a disgusted look from Manny. "Fine, I'll tuck myself in." Sid grumbled, dusting the rock off with his one claw. He drew in a big yawn. "Mmmmm. Alright, good night." The sloth said while yawning, he positioned himself on top of the rock.

Silence until…

Sid yawned again, fairly loudly while turning over on the rock. "Na, na na!" Sid mustered, kicking his one foot in the air a few times. Once again the sloth turned around, making various noises. "Awh!" He yawned, "ahhh, ahhh-''

"WILL YOU STOP IT?" Manny yelled a little quieter than he would have, if he weren't concerned about waking up the baby. Sid was so surprised, that he bounded off of the rock and onto his butt.

"Alright, alright." The sloth said, taken aback, "just trying to relax." He curled up on the rock, his thumb in his mouth, and with in seconds, Sid was snoring.

"Oy." Manny moaned. Yesterday, he had Sid on him, just when he thought things couldn't get worse, they now had the baby to look after. And not to mention a blood thirsty carnivore traveling with them… that he actually needed. But there was no way that Manny could trust him. He eyed Diego, suspiciously. But the tiger's slow even breathing assured him that things would be alright for now.

Diego had sensed the silence, he could even feel Manny when he stared at Diego. Diego waited, for a moment longer. And when he heard Manny's even breathing. His glowing green eyes flashed open. _'Yes!' _Diego thought to himself. Everything was perfect.

Diego crept silently up to the sleeping Mammoth and most importantly the baby.

~*~*~*~*~

"Woa! Wait a minute!" Manny stopped the story. "You mean, you actually woke up and tried to take the baby? But I could swear that you were sleeping!" Manny looked at Diego in complete disbelief.

Diego sheepishly grinned, "uhh smart move not to trust me." Diego smiled slightly.

Sid's mouth was hanging open. "I'm never gonna look at you the same way again!"

"Wait! So did he actually get away with the baby then?" Ellie asked, completely absorbed in the story. Crash and Eddie's eyes were now wide with astonishment as well.

"I really don't know, now." Manny said, "Diego?"

"Well, he tried to make a break for it with the baby. But something interrupted my plans…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Closer… Diego made his way to his prize when… his ears picked up a noise! Thinking that it was the mammoth waking up Diego, quickly retracted his claws. But he realized that nothing was happening. He glanced in the direction where he heard the noise. He could swear that he heard something. He glanced at the snoring sloth. It must have been him.

Diego advanced, making a second attempt to swipe the baby when… another rustling of leaves. And the sound of a few twigs snapping now. Diego shot a hard glare over his shoulder. What ever that was… it was going to pay. And besides, Diego had not eaten since last night! He crouched low, you interrupt his hunt… you pay the price.

Diego growled low, he jumped high into the air over the other side of the hill. He landed hard on… _Zeke?_ With his claw half way in the air –prepared to strike. "What the?" Diego looked down at his crazy brother.

"Go ahead, slice me. It'll be the last thing _you _ever do!'' Zeke sneered at Diego who was still perched on him.

_'Well I WAS doing my job until you interrupted me!' _Diego growled in his head. He restrained himself. "I'm working here you waste of fur!" Diego hissed at Zeke, until another voice caught his attention.

"Frustrated, Diego?" Oscar's egotistical voice made his ears perk up. "Tracking down the helpless infant too difficult for you?"

Diego dug his claws into the ground, "what are you two doing here?"

"Soto's getting tired of waiting," Oscar glared at Diego.

"Yeah, yeah," Zeke added in, with a huff. "He said, 'come back with the baby… _or don't come back at all!'_" He yelled.

Those words actually hit Diego pretty hard, but his face remained impassive. "Well I have a message for Soto, tell him… I'm bringing the baby." Diego thought as hard as he could. How could he make up his mistakes to Soto? Soto would accept the baby, but Diego made him wait. _'What can I possibly do to make it up to… I've got it!'_ A prehistoric light bulb in Diego's head, "and tell him I'm bringing… _a mammoth!"_

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Woah, woah, woah, woah! Stop!" Manny interrupted, glaring at Diego who didn't make complete eye contact. "_You _planned it?" Manny asked astounded. "Right there, then? Just like that?" Manny asked

Diego's green eyes met Manny's. "Okay, yeah. Like I said, it was mainly because I didn't want Soto to… you know." Diego said awkwardly fumbling over words. "You know that I'm sorry," Diego smiled at Manny slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry. It's just you never told me that part." Manny said.

Diego shrugged, "well, I'm trying to."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"A _mammoth?"_ Zeke exclaimed in a crazed voice.

"Mammoths never travel alone!" Oscar hissed at Zeke.

_'Oh yeah, smart ass?'_ Diego said in his mind. He walked up to the peak of the hill, Oscar and Zeke followed, "well this one does. And I'm leading him to half peak!"

Zeke's lips trebled, his legs became loose. "Mmm! Look at all that meat! Let's get him!" Zeke growled out of weak will power. He was about to pounce on the mammoth.

Diego fiercely intercepted, "not yet!" He sneered, "we'll need the whole pack to bring this mammoth down, get everyone ready…" Diego commanded. He realized that Zeke and Oscar could only stare at the sleeping mammoth on the ground. "_NOW!_" Diego snapped!

Zeke suddenly ran away, in fast attempt to deliver the news to Soto.

Oscar was not as quick to react. He and Diego held hard glares at each other. Snarling in their minds. Oscar finally walked away, slowly. Diego glared at the retreating figure, then he looked back to the herbivores, he was too tired to plot anymore tonight. It might be hard to lead the mammoth directly to half peak… but he could do it. He yawned, quietly padding over to where the mammoth and sloth were sleeping, and laid down for the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Wow, Diego, I never realized that you'd do that." Ellie said shocked.

"Yeah!" Eddie exclaimed.

"I'll never look at you the same way again!" Crash admitted.

Diego shrugged, ''well, it's what I had to do.''

"But you planned to ambush us… just that night?" Sid asked Diego.

"Yeah, but I didn't know you guys that well then. But once… stuff happened then… well I don't want to spoil it." Diego said, looking at Crash and Eddie.

"Well, now that I've heard about this… I need to know how you all became friends!" Ellie exclaimed, excitedly.

**Okay, so that wasn't as short as I thought it would be. And it's a day late , but I still hope you all like it! Thanks for reading, please review! : )**


	11. Getting Started in the Morning

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you all for reviewing! And thank you so much Thelonemongrel for bringing up this! I switched between first person and third person for some really, really odd reason that I don't even know why I didn't catch that when I revised it! But I'll be sure to not make that mistake that again! : )**

_Campfire Stories _

_Chapter Eleven- Getting Started for the Day_

"Well, the next morning, I woke up first!" Sid said immediately in attempt to reclaim his spotlight as the storyteller.

"Good for you," Eddie commented, "but we don't want to hear about how wandered around aimlessly for two hours. Manny, how about you tell it."

Manny gladly opened his mouth, but Ellie interrupted, "No, no. Sid, you can say what you were gonna say, Manny, wait." She giggled at Manny, and slapped him playfully.

"Ellie-'' Manny protested.

"Manny…" Ellie glared at him warningly.

"The girlfriend is always right!" Sid declared smiling, receiving weird looks from everyone around him –except for Ellie who nodded her head satisfied. "What?" Diego and Manny just stared at each other, then looked back to Sid.

"Okay, Sid…" Manny said, still starting at Sid slightly disturbed.

"Just… just go ahead and tell the story." Diego said to the sloth, annoyed.

"Well." The sloth began, "I got up a little early when I heard the baby squirming."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sid opened his eyes, and blinked a few times. He heard the baby coo happily. He got up from his rock, stretched and let out a long, loud yawn. "Hey there little buddy," Sid said in a hushed tone. The baby gurgled excitedly, throwing his little hands in the air eagerly waiting for Sid to pick him up. "Of course, of course, I'll pick you up." Sid smiled at the baby, "I'm the only one around here who really cares about you anyway." Sid smiled at Roshan who giggled in response. Sid looked over at the still sleeping mammoth and saber. _'Geez. If I hadn't woken up, this little guy would be stuck here until these two woke up.' _Sid thought to himself in disgust.

Sid drew in a breath then let it out in a hurry. "Ugh!" He exclaimed, slightly loudly. He turned over his shoulder to see if he had woken up the mammoth and tiger, but fortunately he didn't. "No more fruit for you!" He scolded Roshan in a whisper. "Oh well, somebody has to help you out. I just hope I know how to change one of those… baby thingies." Sid shrugged. He waddled over to a stump a little further away to change the baby.

* * *

"Aww, Sid, that was nice of you." Ellie smiled at the sloth.

"Thanks, somebody had to, and apparently I was the only one who cared." Sid shot Manny and Diego a look.

"Hey! I got up before _dawn_ the morning before that. _And_ I stayed up late that other night." Diego defended himself, "I was tired."

"Yeah," Manny said, "and _I _was with you for _two_ days by then. So, I deserved a break."

"Well, _I_ had to change the baby thingy, and _that_ was terrible!" Sid exclaimed. Diego and Manny both looked at each other without anything to say.

"I would say that Sid wins this one." Ellie said, nodding her head.

Crash and Eddie both laughed, "I would like to see Sid clean a human baby!" Crash exclaimed in a humored tone.

"It was a nightmare. You'd never think that something so little could smell so bad!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Phew! No more fruit for you!" Sid declared, when he suddenly heard giggling. He glanced over his shoulder and then his whole body followed. _'I… am…in…heaven.'_ He thought to himself once he saw the site in front of him.

The sun had just rose a little higher in the sky. In front of him were glamorous mud baths with… the most gorgeous female sloths he had ever seen. One with beautiful tan colored fur, with a blonde ponytail at the top of her head, paws perfectly dusted with a subtle pink- white color, her name was Rachel. The other sloth, who was thicker with blueish fur and short curly hair was named Jennifer. Sid immediately hopped up eagerly. He fixed some of his fur, and looked down at the cute baby. No female sloth could resist an adorable baby –a human one at that.

Sid waddled over to the mud springs where the attractive female sloths stopped their conversations and stared up at the sloth with the cooing baby in his arms. "Hello ladies!" Sid said, "name's Sid, mind if I join you two?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, you used the baby to pick up girls?" Ellie said to the sloth, slightly humored. "That's you alright." She giggled at Sid.

"Yeah, and he was using the baby to do it." Manny said, looking at the sloth and shaking his head.

"Well, you know, two attractive girl sloths… I have to make a good impression!" Sid said.

"I doubt they were even interested in you." Crash pointed out.

Diego looked at Sid and nodded.

"Well… just listen to the rest of my story. Everything was going smoothly until Manny and Diego actually woke up. Manny completely ruined my fun."

"Well, when I woke up it wasn't all that joyful either. Getting up, not feeling the baby with me. I thought that Diego took him."

"Oh yeah. Don't remind me," Diego said, glaring at the mammoth. "I thought that you were really about to trample me."

"Sorry." Manny admitted, "but you can't blame me for not trusting you."

Diego nodded, "true…"

"Wait, what happened?" Eddie said with interest.

"Wait, wait, wait! I was telling the story." Sid protested.

"Oh yeah, we really want to hear about your flirting for the next hour." Crash said.

"Well, I got up a little later than Sid did." Manny began, shooting Sid a look, "but when I woke up, I immediately thought of the baby."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Manny groggily opened his eyes. Rays of pink blurred across the bright sky, at least it would be a nice day. He squeezed his trunk lightly, closing his eyes. But then, he realized that the baby was not there. Manny's eyes shot open, his thoughts went directly to the sleeping tiger. _'I am gonna kill him right on the spot!'_ Manny decided in his mind.

He stomped thunderously over to the tiger, waking Diego up in a big panic.

"Where's the baby?" Manny demanded.

Diego's heart was already racing from the rude awakening, but now he was in a complete, total, panic. _'The single thing that my life depends on… is gone?' _Diego thought to himself, about to faint.

"You_ lost_ it?" Diego exclaimed in disbelief. The two were taken aback, then sudden realization struck the two once they realized that the sloth was missing too.

"SID!" The pair shouted.

Diego let out the biggest sigh of relief he had ever had.

"That idiot," Manny grumbled, "okay mister tracker, why don't you find the sloth," Manny commanded.

"Fine." Diego said coolly, though he was still shaky from the scare he had just a moment ago. "This'll only take a second."

* * *

"And _I _actually found the sloth before Diego." Manny said satisfied.

"Well…I was taking my time." Diego said defensively, "it's not like I was on a time limit or anything." Diego shrugged.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, it's so ugly." Rachel rejoiced over the pink bundle in Sid's arms, "it's positively adorable!" She gushed.

"Hello pumpkin," Jennifer cooed, "hello little baldie-bean!" She exclaimed, grabbing the baby's wide cheeks, he squealed with delight.

"Where'd you find it?" Rachel asked in a small voice.

"Ahh. The poor kid was all alone in the wild." Sid lied, "_sabers_ were closing in on him. So I just snatched him!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Bull." Crash and Eddie said in unison.

"Not exactly!" Sid rebuttled, "just… stretching the truth. I mean, there _was_… one saber involved. " Sid said, smiling goofily at Diego.

"Sid… I suggest you don't even try to defend yourself here." Diego smiled shaking his head. "Let's just… continue with the story. Oh, by the way, Sid, it _was_ a lie."

* * *

"Ooh, so brave." Rachel commemorated Sid.

"Yeah, well… he needed me, and I only wish I had one of my own too." Sid said.

"_Really?"_ Jennifer jumped, excitedly, but collected herself, "I… I find that attractive in a male." She said, flirtatiously batting her long eyelashes.

"Oh, relax." Sid said, letting go of the baby and resting his arms on the side of the mud pit. The baby began to slide down into the warm mud. "Who wouldn't want a family I always say," Sid continued –oblivious to the fact that Roshan had just sunk down into the mud.

"Oh." Rachel gushed, "where have you been hiding." She said as Sid realized that the baby was on the bottom of the mud pit.

Sid frantically picked the baby out of the mud, "yeah, well, ah… you know." Sid said recollecting himself as he picked the baby out of the mud. The baby gurgled, splashing the sloth's face with mud. He laughed anxiously, "cute kid, huh?" He asked, receiving nods from the she-sloths. "So…" Sid began, reaching out for something to dry his face with. He found something furry and warm. "So- as I was saying ladies ah-" He snorted while wiping his face with a trunk-

"Oh hey! Hey… Manny," Sid said, tense.

"What's the matter with you?" Manny glared at the sloth, he grabbed the baby in his trunk and walked away with the tripping, muddy baby.

"Uh- excuse me, ladies. You just keep marinating, and I'll be right back." Sid murmured, "sexy!" Sid exclaimed as he clumsily climbed out of the mud bath.

"Well, he's not much to look at, but it's so hard to find a family guy!" Jennifer whispered to Rachel as Sid was walking away.

"Tell me about it!" Rachel nodded in agreement, "all of the sensitive ones get eaten."

Sid ran to catch up with the mammoth. "No, no, no M-m-Manny wait. P-Please, I'm begging you," Sid stuttered, "I need you!"

"What? A good lookin' guy like _you_?"

"Ah. You say that, but you don't mean it!"

"No, seriously look at you. Oh those ladies, they don't stand a chance!" Manny said sarcastically.

"You have a very cruel sense of humor." Sid inquired.

"Hey! Don't let me cramp your style." Manny shouted.

"Oh thanks, Manny!" Sid said, ecstatic. "You're a pal!" He said, grabbing the baby from the mammoth, shaking his trunk. "You're the best!"  
"Without Pinky!" Manny said, taking the baby out of Sid's grasp.

"Oh! Manny, _please_, I _need _him!" Sid pleaded, the mammoth continued to walk the opposite direction. Sid sighed, "Ah- fine."

Sid walked back to the mud pits, without success. "Do. Dooo. Dooo. Heh! Do, doo, dooo." Sid hummed, "So ladies…" Sid began, jumping back into the mud pit with a splash. "Where were we?" He smiled with his eyes closed.

"Carl?" A deep voice greeted the sloth.

"Easy Frank." Another masculine voice came out. Sid opened his eyes and realized what he was afraid of. The two rhinos from before had surrounded him –in the tiny mud pit. The rhinos growled, and Sid let out a girly scream.

* * *

"Hah!" Crash laughed, "How did I know that the girl sloths would leave you?"

"And leave you to get beaten up by two rhinos!" Eddie added.

"Yeah, and if it weren't for my quick thinking… and Diego's mouth, I wouldn't be here." Sid bragged… sort of.

"What are you talking about?" Diego stared at the sloth.

"Think back to it…"

"… Oh! Yeah, I actually wasn't planning on helping you." Diego said to the sloth.

"And I couldn't thank your temper more."

"What are they talking about?" Ellie asked Manny quietly.

"You'll see." Manny said, and then continued.

* * *

Manny walked with the human baby, past infuriated. He grumbled to the baby, tossing him in the air and catching him nonchalantly. "Pretty-tail walks by and suddenly, he moves like a cheetah. And that _tiger,_" Manny spat out the words to the gurgling baby, "yeah, mister great tracker. Can't even find a sloth." He mumbled, setting the baby down on a flat part of a tree. "What am I –their wet-nurse?" He yelled. Then saw the kid turn over upside-down, he giggled vivaciously.

"What are you lookin' at bone bag?" He sneered at the un-phased baby. "Look at you. You're gonna grow into a great predator, huh?" He said, poking the baby with his trunk. "I don't think so! What do ya got? Ya got a little…patch of fur?" He said, fumbling with the baby's black locks of hair. His trunk went up to the baby's mouth and then his tiny pink fingers. "No fangs, no claws." He observed, "you're folds of skin wrapped in… mush. What's so threatening about you?" He said, watching the baby play, trying to catch his trunk. And then-

The baby gripped Manny's trunk happily, he hugged it as hard as he could. For a second, Manny felt remorse for the little guy, but he was soon over it. "Hey! Hey! Does this look like a petting zoo to you, huh?" He asked the small baby, who still had his trunk in his grip. But the baby soon slid from his trunk and grabbed on some hair on the tip of his nose to try not to fall. But the fur failed to hold his weight. The baby fell and landed unharmed on the tree again.

"Ahh!" Manny yelled, and the baby giggled, holding the fur he pulled from Manny's trunk. "Okay, alright, wise guy. You just earned a time-out!" Manny said, and put the baby further up in the tree. The baby just laughed even louder. "Oh you think that's funny? How 'bout this?" He lifted the hysterical baby higher in to the tree limbs. "You're a little snack for the owls." The baby took one more cooing giggle before Manny sighed. "You're a brave little… squirt. I'll give you that." Manny said, looking out further in attempt to see any sign of the sloth or tiger near by.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Aww, Manny," Ellie smiled, "you really did like that baby." She said happily, holding Manny's trunk.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, he was a cute little guy." Manny shrugged.

"Well, now I have to tell you guys about how _my_ quick thinking and Diego's temper got the rhinos away from me permanently." Sid bragged.

Diego rolled his eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sid screamed, running from the foot steps that were just inches behind him… almost. He looked over his shoulder and saw heard the rhino's thundering steps behind him. Sid gulped, and turned, then stopped, and met Diego's face.

"Oh thank goodness. _Thank Goodness!_" Sid exclaimed seeing the tiger. "Oh no! A _tiger_!" Sid said, exaggerating his voice, "help! HELP!"

Diego scoffed, _'what, NOW he wants me to kill him… I might just do so…wait ! NO! I need to make sure Soto's prize is okay.'_ Diego thought to himself. He glared at the sloth, "where's the baby?" He sneered.

"Oh, he's fine," Sid whispered to Diego, "Manfred has him, just put me in your mouth. C'mon hurry up- OOH! He got me! Oh help." He yelled.

"Get away from me!" Diego snarled.

"He went this way, over here!" Frank yelled to his brother. Sid gulped, no other option but to… AHA!

Sid kicked Diego in the back of his leg, with all of the force the sloth could muster. The tiger spun around and before Sid could even take another breath… he was between the tiger's jaws. And before anything else happened, the rhinos skidded around the corner. Sid made a gagging noise. Then pretended to die right in Diego's mouth.

_'I can't believe that I fell for that!'_ Diego growled in his mind.

"Aww, Carl!" Frank sighed, "the tiger beat us to him."

"Wait a minute." The larger rhino stepped up to Diego.

Diego felt a little bit of fear flash through his body; a large rhino has the potential to really hurt a saber. But Diego trained himself to never let his uncertainty show on his face. But his ears pulled back a little.

Carl stepped to Diego and smelled the sloth in the tiger's jaws. "Ugh!" He sputtered, "he's dead alright." Diego eyed the rhino, not saying anything. The two rhinos retreated.

"Aww. _Carnivores_ have all the fun!" Frank said.

Once the rhinos had disappeared, Sid opened his eyes. He rubbed his sore neck. "Oh gosh, I hate breaking their hearts like that. But ah- you know how it is." Sid made a move to escape the tigers mouth.

But Diego's jaws remained firm, and he let out a growl.

"Alright… thanks. Ah… you can put me down now…" Sid gasped, realizing that the tiger was not opening his mouth at all. "Uh- M-m-Manny! Manny-" Sid yelled frantically, trying to use his scrawny arms to pry open Diego's mouth, ineffectively.

"Guys, I thought we were in a hurry." Manny grumbled to the two animals, with the baby in his trunk. "Oh and Diego, spit that out. You don't know where it's been."

Diego's eyes winded, and he dropped Sid to the ground.

"Ugh. Boy." Sid said, getting up, "for a second there… I actually thought you were gonna eat me." He looked at the saber.

"I don't eat junk food." Diego replied, sarcastically.

Sid let out a nervous laugh, "I thought you were gonna. Hah! I thought you were gonna… _were you?"_

Diego didn't respond, he just looked back at Sid and shot a teasing smirk at the sloth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Diego… were you gonna eat me?" Sid asked the saber who's face had evolved into a devious grin.

He was silent for a moment, "I was… considering it." He let out a chuckle.

"Diego…You were just… bad. Although, I don't blame you for wanting to kill Sid!" Manny admitted.

"Aw! I think it's cute how you two were beginning to act brotherly… even when you hated each other." Ellie smirked. "I love this story! I can't even believe that you all went through so much together." She smiled at Manny.

"You haven't heard anything yet." Manny exclaimed.

"Well, let's hear more!" Eddie encouraged.

"Yeah!" Crash exclaimed, pushing his brother off of Ellie's tusk.

"Hey!" Eddie gasped, he grabbed onto Crash's tail and the two fell to the ground. Ellie laughed at her brother's antics.

**Well, I hope you liked it. Man, it feels like forever since I updated. Well, I put more of an effort when revising this! So thank you all! Please review! = ]**


	12. Send me on my Way

**This might sound really, really nerdy. But if you listen to the song, Send me on my way while reading this chapter… it'll get you in the mood… lol!**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Twelve- Send Me on My Way_

The group recovered from the brother's antics once the two jumped back onto Ellie's tusks. "Alright you two, are you finally done for the night?" Ellie said, slightly exasperated.

"Yeah, guys," Manny said, looking up at the moon that was illuminating the sky with glistening white light. "It 's practically midnight… and we're not even close to being done with the story!"

"Sorry." Eddie apologized sarcastically, making another aim to push his brother off of Ellie's tusk. Reflexively, Crash moved to his side, causing Eddie to fall off of Ellie's tusk.

"Haha!" Crash laughed, "Sucker –woah!" He was then pulled off of Ellie's tusk. The brothers, once again were on the dirt, fighting.

Manny groaned, "Do you two want to hear the rest of the story or not?"

"Sorry," the two muttered, shuffling their feet back toward Ellie. They jumped back onto her tusks and eagerly leaned forward. "Ready!" They said in unison.

"Alright." Manny started. "Uh. Guys, what happened after we left?"

Diego and Sid looked at each other, deliberating. "Well." They began.

"Uh. We just kept walking," Sid uttered.

"Yeah. Then we got to… you know" Diego finished, smirking at Manny. _'The cave.'_ He thought to himself.

"Oh, yeah!" Manny exclaimed, in sudden realization, "I remember."

"Boy, Diego, you're really taking this, not spoiling the story thing seriously! Good!" Ellie beamed at her friend.

Diego shrugged, "well, it _is_ a good story, I will admit!"

Sid sighed, reflectively, "yeah! It sure is pal! You know," he spoke to both Manny and Diego, turning. "I kind of wish that we could relive those moments together. Do you two ever think of that?" Diego and Manny looked to each other, then to Sid.

"No, I've never really thought of that." Diego said, searching his thoughts.

"Me either." Manny remarked, "Sid… you actually thought of something." Manny said, chuckling slightly.

"You know, it's kind of like you guys _are_ reliving those moments together… you know, by telling this story." Eddie inquired.

Ellie nodded, slightly shocked at her brother's perceptive thoughts. "When did _you_ get so analytical?" Crash murmured.

Eddie shrugged.

"Well, that's true," Ellie said happily, "does this bring back memories?" She asked the group.

"Yeah," Manny said, smirking, "it actually does."

Diego and Sid nodded, "yeah." Sid then began to grin, "I can't wait until we get to the part where Manny-"

"Shut up!" Diego said to Sid. Then softened his expression, momentarily remembering all the things that he had been through with Sid. Sometimes he was too hard on his friend. "I know you're excited." Diego said to the sloth, "but do you want to try and not ruin the story?" Diego said, slightly sarcastically.

"Sid, just… think before you talk." Manny muttered to the sloth who sheepishly nodded. "Well, I guess, once we left…"

~*~*~**(Cue the music!)***~*~*~

Diego quickened his pace and caught up to Manny, determined to keep his lead. _'Don't worry sloth, I will eat you soon.'_ He thought to himself.

Manny slightly glanced down at the tiger. The baby gurgled, delighted, looking up at Manny and smiling through his two front teeth. Manny couldn't help but half-smile back at the kid. _'Yeah, yeah, we'll get you home.'_ He said to the kid in his head. He kept his face stern but couldn't help lighten his expression as the baby spoke in his own little language.

"Gah! Gah! Oooooo!" He exclaimed, giggling wildly. Diego looked over his shoulder at the kid, smirking.

"Who knows what he's saying." Manny said, shrugging to Diego.

Diego smiled, halfheartedly, to Manfred, unsure of what to say. "Just… baby noises. I guess." He said to Manny.

~*~*~*~

The sun rose higher in the sky, casting its bright rays down on the three traveling friends. The group was walking on a path surrounded by frosted trees, caked with a thick blanket of snow –as well as the ground. The snow was about three feet deep. The first foot was a dusty powder, and the second layer was a mixture of hardened snow. And the bottom was completely iced.

Contrastingly to the seemingly brisk conditions, the sun's rays were as bright as they would be on a summer day. In addition, they actually provided the animals with some warmth, but the thick fur coats also came in handy.

After several minutes of straggling behind Manny and Diego, Sid realized that those two had no intention of slowing down on his account. Maybe they didn't notice that he was not right next to them. "C'mon, wait up, wait up!" Sid yelled after the mammoth and tiger who were about fifteen feet ahead of him. "C'mon, c'mon fellas, can you wait a second please?" Sid shouted after the mammoth.

Manny and Diego simply looked at each other, laughing to each other.

After a few more minutes… "Hey fellas?" Sid continued yelling, unable to take a hint. The jagged, mounds of ice echoed Sid's voice.

After another couple moments of walking, Manny and Diego looked up, realizing that there was a geyser up ahead. The hot steam suddenly exploded in front of Diego and Manny's faces. The two looked at each other… then back to Sid.

"Hey…you thinking…" Diego began.

"Sid?" Manny said, with actual humor in his voice.

The two animals looked at each other, nodded and smiled wickedly. Diego looked back at the sloth, who was still straggling behind. "We have time to time it." The mammoth and tiger decided that the little geyser exploded every ten seconds.

Sid sighed; he had never walked so fast in all of his life. But thankfully, it looked like they were finally waiting. Sid waddled up to the mammoth, carrying the baby on his back, and the tiger. "Phew! Thanks… for waiting!" Sid said between breaths, he plopped himself on a conformable looking rock.

"Three…two…one…" Manny and Diego counted in unison, smiling at each other in anticipation. The geyser blasted the steam up –sending the sloth flying.

"Sure is faithful!" Manny announced, leaving the sloth as he fell from the sky, face down in the geyser, butt in the air. The baby clapped and cooed with excitement as he watched the sloth fly through the air.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You both were planning against me?" Sid asked the mammoth and tiger, slightly taken aback. Diego and Manny let out light laughs.

"Next time, don't walk so slow." Diego said shrugging at the sloth.

"Sid, if we walked at your pace, we would have never been able to return the baby." Manny grumbled to the sloth.

"Wow, I would never have expected, you… or Diego to be so clever in the fine art of practical jokes!" Crash praised Manny and Diego. Diego and Manny nodded to each other.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Manny said, and continued.

~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile, Manny and Sid decided to swap who holds the baby… after Sid agreed to clean the diaper once again. Everything was going fine with Sid and the baby. Manny and Diego continued walking, this time, Sid was only a few feet behind the animals.

Sid stared out at the beautiful scenery until he felt a… _poke._ He looked down at the baby and smiled. His eyes then returned to the beautiful snow until…_poke._ Sid's eyes darted back to the little pink baby, he smiled, _'Oh, so you want to play a game!'_ Sid said to the baby in his head.

He lifted his paw and lightly poked the baby back. Roshan's eyebrows furrowed. The baby gave the sloth a harder poke. Sid poked the baby again, slightly harder. The baby poked Sid again, defiantly. Sid frowned, poking the baby back.

The baby poked Sid, Sid poked back. Then… A poking war broke out between the two. The baby squealed in frustration with the sloth. Diego and Manny glanced over their shoulder.

'_He'd better not damage that thing.'_ Diego snarled in his mind.

'_Great, another migraine.'_ Manny complained in his mind. Time to break it up! "Don't make me reach back there!" Manny threatened. Diego rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well he started it!" Sid retorted, struggling to get a hold of the squirming baby.

"I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!" Manny exclaimed at the sloth.

Diego once again rolled his hazel eyes, _'when…will this end?'_ he asked himself, shaking his head.

~*~*~*~*~

"Fighting with the baby?" Ellie laughed at Sid, "mature."

"Hey! His poking was getting way outta line!" Sid defended himself.

"Sid, I was really tempted to kill you at that point!" Diego said to the sloth.

Sid looked at Diego, "Manny would have stopped you!"

Manny shook his head, "no. I, would be cheering him on in fact!"

"Manny." Ellie groaned, hitting his with her trunk, giggling.

"Okay, I would have stopped Diego. But Sid… you were really irritating." Manny said, laughing.

"When is he not?" Eddie said, laughing along with his brother.

"I heard that!" Sid exclaimed.

"Okay, okay. Can we get back to the story? Please?" Manny asked, impatiently.

~*~*~*~*~

Sid ended up having to give up his custody of the baby to Manny. The heard came to a short pipe-like rock; it shot up a puff of red smoke. The herd stopped walking at that moment, waiting for a large ice block to pass. The small pipe-like rock then shot up a puff of green, the herd the proceeded on their journey.  
The three crossed a large bridge that worked by balancing the weight of the animals. Manny and Diego and the baby crossed with out a problem. But once the mammoth stepped off, the sloth who was straggling behind was launched into the air, onto the other side of the "bridge."

"Woah-" Sid gasped once he was flung into the air. He landed on the ground, "oh, oof!"

After another round of minutes passed, the sloth decided that he would pump some fun into this dull group. He was now holding the baby; Sid wadded up snow into a snowball, then threw it at Manny's large butt. The baby gurgled. Manny turned to give Sid a warning look.

The sloth extended his finger, pointing to the baby. The baby glanced up at Sid with a disapproving face.

_'Just… ignore him.'_ Manny told himself, turning away from the sloth.

"Wait up, guys!" The sloth exclaimed, running to catch up.

"Sid!" Manny stopped, glaring at the sloth. "If you walk faster… you won't need to catch up."

"Well someone's grouchy today!" Sid said in a high-pitched voice, holding the baby in front of his face, making it seem like Roshan was saying that.

Manny rolled his eyes, "Give that to me." He grumbled, stealing the baby away from the sloth.

Diego suppressed a frustrated growl. _'We need to get moving…' _He angrily thought to himself. Manny then caught up to Diego, with his thick trunk wrapped around the baby's waist, he hoisted the baby onto his back.

The herd kept walking, passing Stonehenge. The animals glanced at the rock formation, "Modern architecture," Manny muttered to Diego, "it'll never last." Diego shrugged in response. He could smell that his pack had walked through the area only about a few hours earlier. His plan was working out smoothly. He kept walking forward –just a little ahead of Manny when something caught his eye.

It was a saber paw print… no doubt from one of his brothers. He stared at the image imprinted on the snow, then nervously looked over his shoulder at the mammoth and sloth who were advancing toward him. Sid, now holding the baby. Diego thought fast, rubbing his paw, erasing the print from the snow. Then he took his own paw and sketched what looked like a human footprint in the snow. _'One, two, three…four? Humans have four toes, right?'_ Diego wondered in his mind… no time to worry about that now, Manny and Sid approached Diego from behind.

_'What is he up to?'_ Manny thought, shooting Diego a suspicious glare. Diego pointed to the direction of where he was leading the mammoth and sloth to.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Manny slightly gasped with realization, "I knew that you did something in the snow… I just didn't know what it was." Manny exclaimed, laughing slightly.

"Humans have five toes, Diego." Sid corrected the tiger.

"Yeah, I realized that right after I drew that thing in the snow." Diego muttered, smiling slightly.

"Diego… you were pretty deceiving!" Ellie exclaimed to the tiger who just looked at her with flashing green eyes, shrugging and snickering.

"I… know." Diego said, slightly awkwardly, avoiding any eye contact for a few moments.

"Yeah, a four toed human foot print… nice try!" Manny said to the tiger, laughing. "Well… oh yeah! _Sid_ then _insisted _that we should walk on a frozen lake because it would be _fun _and entertain the baby." Manny said, emphasizing the words while staring at Sid.

"Hey! You're just jealous that I was so professional on the ice… it's not my fault that you guys couldn't even stand up," Sid boasted. Diego and Manny looked at each other, rolling their eyes.

"Hey, Sid! Why don't you tell us how you did on the ice skating!" Crash suggested.

"Yes! I think that I should… I think that the baby and I nailed that double axel!" Sid exclaimed, arrogantly, while receiving weird looks from the rest of his members.

"What?" Diego asked, looking at Sid as if he just said something insane.

"Obviously _you_ wouldn't understand," Sid bragged, "you and Manny don't know how to have fun like I do. Well guys," Sid began, addressing Ellie and the possums, "I decided that we should have some fun when we were traveling together… we might as well have some fun!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_'What… have I gotten myself into?'_ Manny asked himself. His feet fumbled clumsily across the slick, cold surface. Sid, with the baby riding on top of his head, glided agilely across the ice as if there was nothing to it.

"Hi-ya, Manny!" Sid greeted in a humored tone. _'Look at the sloth now!'_ Sid thought to himself, feeling his confidence rise. He spotted the tiger up ahead. _'I'll show Diego to almost eat me!'_

_'This… is ridiculous!'_ Diego growled in his mind. His paws quickly slipped as he got his claws ready to grip the surface of the ice. He looked up to see the sloth boasting with the baby on top of his head.

"Hi-ya, Diego!" Sid said, whizzing past the tiger, forming a figure eight.

Sid looked over to the animals to make sure that they were looking at Sid so he could perform his, "grand finale!" He jumped into the air, twisting swiftly along with the baby who was rotating just above Sid. The sloth landed with ease, extending his arm, catching the baby who raised his arms and cheered, in the perfect jump. That is until…

_Crash!_

"Ooh." The baby cooed, sliding on the iced surface… Sid on the other hand… was stuck head first in a large block of ice.

Manny and Diego, now off ice, just stared at the humorous scene then burst into laughter. "That just makes this day better!" Manny remarked to Diego, scooping up the baby onto his warm back.

"Let's see how long it takes him to get outta' there." Diego suggested, in a light tone.

The mammoth and tiger casually walked past the sloth –still caught in the ice, butt facing outward. "Hey, Sid!" Manny acknowledged the sloth.

Sid pushed with all of his might, and soon… _Pop!_ He sprang out of the hole that he was previously trapped in. "Phew…" Sid sighed, rubbing his stiff neck. "Alright, guys… I'm out! Wait up!" Sid yelled, running on the slick ice… then falling flat on his face.

After another while of walking… Manny studied Diego. The tiger was glancing around himself, and every five seconds, he would sniff the ground. "You're lost, aren't ya?" Manny groaned at the tiger.

"No!" Came the quick, defensive response, "I know _exactly_ where we are!" Diego replied.

Manny refused to fall for Diego's lie; he motioned to the small animal in front of the group. It was none other than… Scrat! "Ask him directions!" Manny demanded.

"I don't need directions!" Diego told the mammoth, turning away from him.

Manny huffed, "Fine, I'll ask him! Hey buddy, you see any humans go by here?" He asked the crazed little mammal.

Scrat shielded his acorn form the potential acorn-swipers… but once he realized that the animals had no intentions of stealing his prized nut… he decided to help them out. "Mm-mm!" Scrat shook his head… then scratched his head. He did see something and then… it hit him! "Eee!" Scrat exclaimed with one finger in the air.

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! I love this game, I love this game!" Sid cheered enthusiastically! The baby in his hands stared at the little creature, smiling.

Scrat prepared himself for the game, setting his nut to the side for that moment. Sid stared at the little mammal.

"Okay, okay. Three words!" He observed, "first word… Stomp!" He said, the little creature shook his head, crazily jumping around. "No, no," Sid murmured, "Stamp! Stamp!"

"Let me try, let me try." Manny interjected.

Scrat shook his head, picking up his acorn and carrying it over his back…

"Uhh… uhh… Pack!" Manny exclaimed in sudden realization. The squirrel rat, nodded his head.

"Ooh. Good one Manny!" Sid remarked, observing the little rodents moments expressing… "pack of long teeth… and claws."

Diego's ears perked up, he was examining his claws at that moment, but then retracted them, uneasily.

"Pack of…wolves?" Sid suggested.

Manny shook his head, "uh- pack of bears?"

Sid shook his head, muttering, incomprehensively. Scrat shook his head, picked up is acorn and huffed, he marched over to Diego, pointing to the tiger.

"Pack of fleas!" Manny shouted out. Scrat shook his head, in disbelief. He pointed directly to Diego.

"Pack of…whiskers?" Sid said, the little rodent pointed, and pointed to Diego, "pack of… noses…?"

Manny scratched his head with his trunk, "uhh… uhh… pachyderm?"

Scrat repeatedly shook his crazy head as hard as he could, pointing, pointing, and pointing to the saber. Diego looked at Manny and Sid as if they couldn't say their ABC's. _'How… stupid are they… well, might as well get rid of this guy…IF they ever get it.'_ Diego thought, slightly amused with himself.

"Pack of flies," Sid said, just beginning to throw things out, "pack of troubles- Pack of walla-''

Diego flicked the small creature with as much force as he could… perhaps too much force. Scrat went flying through the sky… screeching.

"Pack of…birds… pack of… flying fish!" He shouted out, gazing up at Manny, the mammoth just stared at the sloth, and then shook his head.

Diego motioned his head to get the herd going again, "well, that was informative… should we move on?"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"PACK OF SABERS!" Sid and Manny shouted in realization.

Diego nodded his head, mockingly, "Good! That only took you guys… a little more than a year… _he was pointing to me!"_ Diego exclaimed, enlarging his glowing green eyes.

Eddie shook his head, "you guys are so… dumb."

Manny shook his head, "hey, I was with Sid for three days straight… my mind was tired."

"Sure. And you're just poofy too." Crash responded, amused.

Ellie shook her head at Manny, "that _did _take you guys a while…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After continuous walking behind the group, Sid was in the mood for a little more fun. He took a quick glance at Manny, who was paying absolutely no attention, just walking alongside the tiger. Sid set the baby down on a rock, quickly. Sid balled up a snowball and hit Manny in the butt…_bull's-eye! _And before Sid could even point blame at the baby, the baby's eyes widened, and he innocently pointed to Sid. _'I believe that!'_ Manny thought, and instantly turned around, shooting Sid a death look, and he grabbed a mammoth-sized, trunk-to-tusks, pile of snow.

Sid grinned shakily, and the sloth let out innocent chuckles… right before he was drowned in a mound of snow. The baby covered his mouth and giggled in amusement. Manny then smiled at Roshan happily, _'kid has a good sense of humor.'_ Manny thought to himself, turning around.

The animals continued walking… and walking… and walking…

Soon, the skies evolved from bright blue to a dirty gray. It was no less than an hour before a large snowstorm had consumed the skies. Every breath that could be drawn, the animals would get about sixteen snowflakes along with the blistery air. The wind blew mercilessly at the animal's faces. Air bit at every inch of their bodies. The wind roared, mockingly at the animals' sad attempts to pass in the opposite direction.

Diego glared into the wind, it was snowflakes against the tiger… snowflakes were winning. Diego shivered furiously. Ice had grown around his sabers, literally changing them into icicles.

Manfred even struggled to pull his feet through the thick mess of snow. Icicles mercilessly grew on his tusks. He felt the baby shudder in his fur, snuggling as close as he could to the mammoth.

Sid's thinner fur pelt was not doing the sloth any justice. All the sloth could do against the wind's fury was shiver… this… ice age thing… was becoming brutal.

~*~*~*~*~

Ellie laughed her loud, happy laugh. "You guys are just so amusing to listen to." She slipped her trunk further into Manny's.

Manny then smiled along with her, "Well, Diego and Sid… they were… amusing to travel with." Ellie giggled, Diego and Sid just looked toward each other, than back at Manny.

**So so so SOOOO Sorry for the late update. It is a result of writers block…really bad… and being so beyond busy. Anyway I'm so sorry for the late update. But I hope that you can still read and review. : ) It means a lot to me the support that I'm getting. This chapter was REALLY difficult for me to write, so I'm hoping that you guys think that it was still a good chapter : - )**


	13. A Shortcut

**Wow guys! Thanks SO much for awesome reviews! : )**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Thirteen- A Shortcut_

Ellie just smiled at the looks that Sid and Diego gave Manny. She cast her glowing look toward her brothers, "guys, what do you think about all of this?" The two brothers were sitting on top of Ellie's two tusks. Despite the time of night it was, they were far from tired, continuously leaning into the fire their eyes would widen with curiosity as the story continued.

"I think it's cool!" Crash remarked.

"Yeah!" Eddie agreed, "it's really weird to think about a time when you guys weren't friends! It's kind of funny."

Diego, Sid and Manny looked over to each other. "Yeah," Sid began, "it is a weird story… but you guys haven't heard _anything_ yet! Trust me!"

"Keep telling it!" Ellie urged the sloth. A swift blow of balmy air blew the night trees; some leaves fell to the ground, lightly.

"Well, it was after we all had walked through really, thick snowfall for about two hours straight before it finally died down. I'm surprised the kid didn't cry through that. He really was a pretty brave baby!" Sid began.

"Woah! I just remembered something!" Diego interrupted suddenly, "Another thing that I never told you guys," Diego turned to Manny and Sid.

"Go on," Manny said giving Diego an inquisitive gaze across the flames.

A devious grin appeared on the tiger's face, "You guys are gonna _kill_ me once you hear this…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

All of the animals, and the baby were thankful to get out of that crazed storm. The ground that they were walking on was now iced with freshly fallen powder. Diego scouted ahead of the two other animals. _'So far so…'_ Diego's mind quickly stopped working. He looked to his left, and over the edge of the hill that the animals were on was… the baby's herd! The men were traveling with sharpened spears in their hands. The wolves were in the lead on leashes, sniffing at the ground. Diego's hopes sank, but he quickly recollected himself. He had come too far now for his plans to fall out. He just had to use his… great strategizing skills.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw the mammoth and sloth quickly approaching behind him. Then he looked forward, and saw a God sent gift to him. It was a towering, icy cave… perfect diversion! The cave was a dark navy stone; ice and snow had collected on the top. Jagged icicles hung down. It was sort of eerie looking.

Diego bounded up to the mammoth, "Hey! Great news!" He exclaimed, "I found a shortcut!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So you _saw_ the baby's herd!" Sid exclaimed, shocked at the friend he thought he knew.

Diego smiled, with a slight twinge of guilt… and humor. "Yeah," he admitted, fidgeting, uncomfortably.

"You could have saved me so much trouble!" Manny sighed, at this point, he knew that he shouldn't be surprised at anything that Diego confessed to. After all, Diego was still Diego, and he was prepared for any other underhanded move that Diego had done previously.

Diego grinned then, laughed slightly. "Well… yeah. But you guys put me through a lot of work."

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm really glad with how everything worked out!" Sid said, happily gazing into the fire.

Diego and Manny nodded in agreement. Before anything else could be said Crash interrupted.

"Aww. This is so sweet," he groaned sarcastically, "C'mon you guys! We wanna hear the rest of it!"

Diego sighed, "okay…"

~*~*~*~*~*~

The baby teetered on top of Manny's head in attempt to grab the mammoth's trunk. For a moment, the mammoth –and the tiger's eyes widened. The baby slipped off of Manny's head and thankfully, slipped down on his trunk. He landed, giggling, upside down on the tip of his trunk. Manny hoisted the kid back, safely on his head. "What do you mean _shortcut?_" He asked, glaring at the tiger apprehensively.

"I mean faster than the long way around!" Diego replied, content with his sarcasm.

"Ow!" Manny shouted angrily as the baby attempted to climb on top of his head –grasping his fur tightly. "I know what a short cut is!" He turned toward Diego, keeping a dense glare.

Diego rolled his eyes, "look, either we slip through there and beat the humans to Glacier Pass, or we take the long way and miss 'em!"

"Through there? What do you take me for?"

Diego knew how to get Manfred convinced, "this time tomorrow, _you_ could be a free mammoth." Diego said smoothly, "or a… nanny," he said, observing the baby. The kid was cooing excitedly, pulling Manny's eyelid as hard as he could. Manny 's face twisted uncomfortably, he grabbed a hold of the baby with his trunk. "Personally, I never get tired of peak-a-boo!"

Before Manny could respond the sloth came rushing up to the group holding two halves of an icicle. "Hey guys, hey guys! Check this out!" The sloth positioned both halves on both sides of his neck. He straggled around as if he had been stabbed through the neck with the icicle. He gagged and sputtered, receiving weirded out looks from Manny and Diego.

Manny was not in the mood to see Sid's immature act. _'The sooner I get away from these guys, the better!'_ Manny thought to himself. Raising his trunk with the baby he announced, "Sid, the tiger found a shortcut."

Sid stopped for a moment. He gazed up at the towering cave, dropping the icicles to the ground. "No thanks, I choose _life!_" He said, waddling away from the structure. Diego instantly intercepted the sloth before he could take a third step away from the cave.

His golden eyes narrowed into slits, "then I suggest you take the short cut!"

"Are you threatening me?" Sid pointed an accusing claw at the tiger.

Diego was in a hurry… Diego needed the baby delivered to Soto… _Diego's_ life depended on this… Diego was not in the mood. "_MOVE SLOTH!"_ Diego ordered, perhaps a little too loud. There was a rumbling, then a cracking sound as the ice around the cave broke. Roshan gazed at the falling enormous chunks of ice barreling toward the group.

"Way to go tiger!" Sid said sarcastically, patting Diego on the head.

No way was Manny gonna listen to their arguments while they were about to be crushed by blocks of ice. "Quick! Inside!" He commanded, running with the baby on his head into the cave.

Diego wasted no time, he left the sloth behind and bounded into the cave behind Manny. After a delayed reaction, Sid promptly came running as fast as he could behind Diego, all into the large cave –and just in time! Right as Sid's foot hit the interior of the cave, the ice that was placed on top of the cave came crashing down, barricading the group of animals into the cave.

_ Safe!_

Not exactly…

The group skidded to a stop… just to see a group of thick, pointed icicles dangling loosely above their heads. Icicles that thick would no doubt kill the animals if it hit them in the right spot. Diego, Sid and Manny turned and ran for the caved in door, glancing for a way out. But there was no escape.

The animals stared up at the long and deadly pieces of ice, waiting for them to make their move. But thankfully, the rumbling noise from outside ceased, and in two unfair seconds of waiting, the icicles stopped threatening to fall on the group as well. Everything in the cave became still.

The mammals stared up at the chunks of ice blocking their only exit.

"Okay," Manny said, turning to walk through the cave, "I vote shortcut." Satisfied, Diego turned and walked alongside of the mammoth. For a moment, all Sid could do was just look up at the amazing chunks of ice that had imprisoned the animals into the cave. He then turned, and followed the others. The animals then heard another chunk of ice falling into a free space –blocking out the remainder of the light.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sid turned to Diego, laughing he said, "Good one."

Diego shrugged, chuckling, "Well… can I help it that I have the power to cause avalanches?"

Ellie giggled at the two. "So, you guys were now trapped inside of that scary cave?" She received simultaneous nods from the three heroes. "Well? How'd you guys get out?"

"How we got out?" Manny repeated the question. Smiling he said, "that's another interesting story…"

~*~*~*~*~*~

The group left the cave entrance, and began to make their way through the dim cave. They all walked directly next to one another. The baby's head turned from left to right, fascinated with his new surroundings. The cave was literally all solid ice, the mammals could see their breath in mists. Sid looked around, taking in all of the strange, yet intriguing surroundings. The wind attacked the exterior of the cave, now echoed on the inside –creating mysterious, slightly spooky noises.

Diego's voice finally broke the silence, "C'mon guys, stick together, it's easy to get lost in here."

_'Oh really? Then why did you suggest we go in here in the first place?'_ Manny grumbled, struggling to keep those thoughts to himself.

Sid's eyes widened, scanning the smooth shape of the walls, and admiring the great size of the cave he was in. The sites had distracted Sid long enough for him to bump his nose on a large chunk of ice that was jutting out from the wall. He grumbled, falling to the ground with his mouth open. For a moment, his world shifted around him, but soon he was no longer dizzy. He finally decided to stand back up…

or not.

The sloth's tong was stuck to the frozen ground. _'Not good!'_ Sid thought to himself.

"Eh- eh- ehhhh!" He grunted while he struggled to pull his tong free from the ground. Success! With a snap, Sid's tong was free from the ground. The sloth stumbled slightly, regaining his balance. His tong fell freely from his mouth as the sloth turned to check if the guys had waited up for him…apparently not.

"Uh- guys?" He shouted to the animals. With no response, Sid just decided to make his way through the tunnel on his left. He scuffed his feet quickly.

The sloth was taken into a large room. He slowed his feet into a small walk. Peering around a corner, the sloth turned into another room! He watched in awe as his breath changed white when it came in contact with the icy atmosphere in the cave. He patted his hand on an icy wall when…

"Ahh!" He gasped, catching sight of a frozen, creepy looking fish staring into his eyes. Sid laughed, relieved once he realized that it was frozen. "Heh… uh- fish…" Turning, the sloth came face to face with another large monster in the ice. It was a dinosaur, and not only that, but a Tyrannosaurus Rex! Sid let out a scream of terror. He turned around, shivering.

Meanwhile, Manny, Diego and Pinky were walking right on the other side of the wall. Manny turned to Diego, "what's he screaming about?"

Diego scoffed, "I told him it was easy to get lost in here."

Sid then came to a wall diagram. Sid gazed at it. There was a creature with just two eyes, and no body. The next creature had those same two eyes, but a body, and flipper like material on its sides. The next creature looked like a stumpy, fish version of a sloth –with webbed feet. And the next creature was what looked like a pre-historic sloth. Sid, for a moment stood next to the creature in a position that would complete the chart of sloths. Then, he happily continued walking. He noticed Manny and Diego up ahead, so he ran to catch up.

He stopped again, to stare at the giant, strange looking artifact in the ice. It looked like a big, weird shaped rock. Little to the animals' knowledge, it was an alien spaceship. The baby smiled, and spaced his tiny fingers out.

"Will 'ya keep up _please?_" Manny grumbled to the sloth, " hard enough to keep track of _one_ baby!" Manny continued walking. Little did he know, the baby had slipped off of his back… onto a large ice slide. Roshan cooed in amusement as Manny approached the ice slide. Sid and Diego appeared on the slide, watching the baby slide, and slide. He shot up in the air, waved, and then fell down in the air, into the tunnel. All three of the animal's eyes widened as they saw the baby slip into the tunnel.

"AHHHHH!" They all screamed. Diego, Manny, and Sid ran frantically to the edge of the tunnel, just in time to see the baby slipping, and sliding through loops in the ice.

_'Crap.'_ Diego thought to himself. He wasn't about to let Soto's prize go anywhere… he jumped into the spiraling ice slide followed by Sid, and then the mammoth. The animals screamed as they slipped beyond their control. Sid, whipped ahead of Diego. Diego flopped, as his paws slid out from under him. Manny scrambled to remain on his feet. He slid, and met up with Diego and Sid. The animals saw the baby's small body project through the air. Then slip onto his side, and through a twisting tunnel.

"Ahhh!" Manny, Sid and Diego yelled, frantically trying to slow themselves down… with no luck. Over bumps, and through even more tunnels the baby slid. Cheering happily, he put his small hands in the air and giggled.

The animals finally caught up with the baby, and were once again split up. Diego, in one tunnel. Manfred, in a middle tunnel. And Sid and the baby went into a tunnel on the far right.

"Ahh!" Sid screamed as he and the baby sailed through the air. Manfred and Diego had also been shot off of their tunnel and into the air. It shouldn't be any surprise to the group that they were then tossed into more tunnels. Sid and the baby, flew perfectly into he smallest tunnel. Diego, bounced into the tunnel on the far right, and Manny into the largest tunnel.

The baby slid away from Sid, as he used his claws to pick up speed. Once the sloth realized that he was actually gaining on the baby he reached out his hands at the kid. "Woo-hoo!" He cheered, laughing boisterously. "I gotcha!" He exclaimed in triumph, holding the kid above his head –but not for long. He then saw a large hole in the ground that he was sliding on, screaming, he let go of the baby and fell through the air. "AHH!"

Sid screamed, sailing through the air. He landed on his head, sliding upside down in a large tunnel. Sid met up with the mammoth, and landed directly on his tusks.

While Diego shot down another narrow tunnel. He frantically shot his claws out standing in an upright position in the tunnel, to slow himself down. Diego no longer felt the tunnel near him, but felt himself falling. Instinctively, he kept his claws out and ready for impact, and he turned to face feet first.

Diego let out a slight grunt, landing satisfactorily on Manny's back.

Manny closed his eyes, and cried out in pain. _'Guess we have all three of us here now.'_ Manny thought to himself, grumbling in the pain that he was in.

Sid grabbed Manny's trunk, speaking into it as if he were speaking into a walkie-talkie. "Caption," he began, "Ice berg ahead!"

"Woah-" Manny cried, approaching the upcoming obstacle.

He grunted as the gang stopped moving momentarily. The animals let out a sigh of relief. But it was short lived, once the three heard the ice begin to crack.

The mammoth, sloth and tiger looked down from the height they were at. "Oh no!" Diego said, digging his claws further into Manfred's back, anticipating the upcoming fall. The ice berg the trio was on broke, and then skidded to the ground. The group screamed, and then screamed even louder as they passed over a number of jagged icicles sticking their pointed ends upward.

After a few moments, the group regained their stance on the floor, still sliding at a great velocity. The baby cheered, popping into a lane on the slippery ice –as well as the other animals.

Manny and Sid screamed, slightly. Manfred looked to his left and observed the devious tiger. Diego crouched low, sending him faster toward the baby. _'Oh no you don't!'_ Manny thought, crouching down as low as he could. Whizzing past a surprised Diego!

Sid, who was in the lane next to the baby, made a move to grab a hold of the squirt. Failing, Sid snapped his fingers in frustration. _'I was so close!'_ He said mentally. Not even a second passed until the baby was once again shot through the air –again! Manny, Sid and Diego stared up at the kid, wide-eyed. Manfred maneuvered himself in a circle, turning around backward, he prepared himself to catch the flying squirt.

Sid smiled, relieved that Manny was saving him. The sloth had whipped through tunnels, maneuvered through the air, and all of that gave him a great speed. The sloth turned around… a speed that was gonna get him killed. He noticed a solid ice wall that he was approaching. The sloth screamed. He stood up on one foot, moving to slow down. But that did not work out too smoothly. The sloth crashed through the ice wall! Followed by Diego, sliding only on one of his front paws.

Manny focused all of his energy catching the kid. Reaching out his trunk, and in one fluid motion, he captured the baby in his trunk. The baby laughed in delight!  
Sid and Diego poked their heads out of the Diego-shaped marking on the wall. But, it was not for long until- Manny came flying to the wall. Diego and Sid screamed shortly, and were then over powered by the sound of Manny shooting through the wall, knocking the whole ice wall into mere powder.

Now, the only sound was the baby's pleased laughter. Manny and Sid just sat in the pile of snow, with piles of snow on their heads. Even Sid had a glazed expression on his face.

Diego animatedly jumped out of the snow. "Woah!" He exclaimed, as lively as a two-month-old cub. "Woo!" He punched Manny, playfully on the shoulder. Manny's expression remained solid, he and Sid just glared at the way too energetic saber. "Yeah!" He shouted, indulging on feeling of adrenaline rushing through his body. "Who's up for round two?" Diego held his up in front of Manny's face for a high five. Diego looked from the mammoth to the sloth, ecstatically. When he noticed their questioning glares, he slowly dropped his paw to the powdery ground. The baby even let out a small peep of inquiry at the normally somber saber.

"Oh." Diego paused, clearing his throat, "t-t-tell the kid to be more careful!" Diego muttered to the mammoth. Diego looked from the group of animals, to the ground, to the animals again. _'Well… I thought that was fun.'_ He grumbled in his mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ellie grinned at Diego across the fire, "Diego, did you really do that?" She asked, snickering in response to Diego's nod.

"Yeah," Diego smiled, looking at the ground. He turned to Manny and Sid, "I can't believe you guys didn't think that was fun!"

Manny scoffed at the tiger, "Well, first of all, you didn't have _claws_ digging into your back for about half the time. Second of all, you didn't have to catch the baby, and third, that whole running into the giant wall of ice thing sort of hurt." Manny said, with a slightly humorous undertone.

Sid sighed, "Well, now I look back on that… in a way I think that that was really funny." He said to the saber, grinning ear to ear.

"What happened next?" Crash asked the group eagerly.

**Ugh. I'm so sorry for the long wait on this one guys. I had no problems finishing this chapter, but I had literally no time to edit it. (I know that's not the best excuse in the world…) But teachers have been overloading me with homework and combine that with constant cheer practice… lol! That's hardly anytime. So anyways, I'm really sorry for the long wait on this one. The marking period finally ended so I'm gonna have some downtime to get the next chapter out way sooner than I did! Thank you all so much if you read, please review!!! = }**


	14. Cave Drawings

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing : - ) Hope you like this chapter!**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Fourteen- Cave Drawings _

Manny yawned, sleepily. "Guys, it's really late. Are you sure we can't just finish it tomorrow?"

Diego laughed, "It _is _tomorrow."

"My point exactly!" Manny said, "I'm beat."

"Oh no!" Ellie protested, "You guys started this story, you're gonna finish it." She teasingly glared at Manny.

"C'mon Manny," Sid said, walking up to the mammoth and elbowing him persuasively. "Don't act like you don't want to finish it."

"I do… but I'm just so tired." Manny moaned.

"Too bad!" Eddie declared, swinging on Ellie's tusk by his tail.

"Alright, alright!" Manny said sighing.

"Yes!" The brothers cheered simultaneously.

Crash smiled widely at Manny, "Proceed."

Manny rolled his eyes, "Okay. So, it was after we went through all of those ice slides, right?" He asked Diego and Sid, who nodded. "Well-" He started off, and then realized the part of the story that he had to tell.

"Well?" Crash repeated the mammoth.

Diego and Sid turned toward each other. Both could read on each other's face the exact same thoughts. The sound of silence drifted across the group for a moment or two. Manny finally spoke up.

"Well, we climbed out of the snow. The baby had snow all over his head, so Sid took him, and he tried to get the kid warm." Manny laughed lightly, remembering the baby.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The three dusted off ice and snow from their fur. Sid scooped up the baby and made his way through the cave alongside of Manny and Diego. Soon, the three entered a beautiful room full of cave drawings made by some humans once.

The walls glowed chestnut. Though, there was no sun in this cave, the paintings shot off their own beams of light, completely illuminating the place. The floor was no longer ice, but a solid, sort of dusty, rocky surface.

"Ada-buh" The baby said. He looked around the cave, curiously. Sid stared at the paintings in wonder, incredible sketches and paintings of beautiful animals splashed the walls.

Diego and Manny even looked at the cave drawings from the corner of their eyes. Both Diego and Manny gazed at the paintings in wonder. Once the animals entered the full room, the paintings expanded across the walls. Stretching to even the ceiling of the cave. Sid's eyes lit up, "Woah!"  
The animas split form walking in a straight line to a spread out V. The sloth grinned widely this was so much better than migrating! He looked to a painting to his left. "Look, look! " Sid spoke over his shoulder, "tigers! Yeesh…" Sid examined the painting more closely, there was a pack of sabers. It showed the saber leader, jumping on top of an antelope and sinking its teeth into the poor antelope.  
The baby's thin eyebrows scrunched at the site of this painting. He whimpered softly into Sid's shoulder. "Oh, it's okay, it's okay. Look!" Sid took his claw and raised it under the baby's small chin. "The tigers are just playing tag with the antelope…" He said, causing the baby's pink lips to reappear in a smile. " Sid cringed away from the disturbing painting, "With their teeth!"

Diego chuckled under his breath, an opportunity to make the sloth feel uncomfortable. "C'mon Sid," He said, circling the sloth, "Let's play tag! You're it!" Diego narrowed his golden eyes into slits.

Sid let out an awkward, intimidated laugh. "Ah. Heh. Sure."

Diego grinned, satisfied with his work, he walked away from the sloth.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Crash laughed, "Nice one, Diego!"

Diego's grin twitched from the corner of his mouth, "I take pride in my work!"

"Hey!" Sid glared at Diego.

~*~*~*~*~

Sid walked –as far as he possibly could away from the tiger, still holding on the baby. He glanced around at the walls. _'What? No sloths?'_ He thought to himself.

"Okay, okay, okay." He said out loud, "Where are the sloths?" He looked over his shoulder to see if the guys were paying any attention to him. "You know, you _never_ see any sloths in these things, have you ever noticed?" Sid scanned the wall and then found a mammoth! It really resembled Manny. "Oh look, Manny, a mammoth!" He exclaimed cheerfully, getting a closer look at the painting.

Manny continued walking straight ahead. "Ooh!" Sarcasm remained in his voice. "Somebody pinch me!" His voice remained dull.

"Hey, hey, this fat one looks just like you." Sid said, setting the baby down. Diego swiftly walked over and examined the painting. "Aww. And he's got a family."

Manny's feet completely froze to the ground.

"Oh, and he's happy!" Sid continued. Manny looked over his shoulder at the sloth.

Manny didn't want to turn around, but he did. Maybe… if he could see this painting… he might be able to experience a few seconds of happy memories. He walked over to the sloth, feeling his heart sink the moment his eyes hit the painting.

"See, Manny, that's your problem. That's what mammoths are supposed to do!"

Diego stared at Manfred. He just walked slowly, closer, and closer to the painting on the wall. Diego could sense that something was wrong with Manny. "Sid."

"Find a she-moth. Have little baby mammoths." He said, counting on his fingers.

"Sid!" Diego repeated, this time with a harsher tone. Intending for Sid to receive his message.

"And, and, and –_what?_" He asked, slightly annoyed at the saber.

"Shut up!" Diego growled.

"But-" Sid looked from Manny, to Diego and back at Manny.

_Oh, and he's got a family. Oh and he's happy. Look he's playing with his kid! See Manny, that's your problem, that's what mammoths are supposed to do. Find a she-moth. Have little baby mammoths..._

Diego and Sid both suddenly figured it out. Manny did have a family. But some how, or another, he lost them.

"Oh…" Sid softened his voice.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, Manny." Ellie's trunk tightened around her mate's. Manny smiled at Ellie. He had told the story of how he lost his family more than once. He was now able to successfully tell it without crying. Still, every time he would tell this story he would feel depression glide over him.

"It's ok." Manny insisted, continuing on with the story that he was telling.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Manfred stared at the painting on the wall. His eyes widened, reminiscing on the memories on that horribly unforgettable morning. He envisioned the way that everything happened.

His son trumpeting happily, and running around to play. He remembered hugging his son. And then hugging his wife once he saw his son playing. His life was perfect. And then…

He remembered watching his son run away. A pack of humans armed with pointed spears headed their direction. They chased after Manny's son. Yelling in their incomprehensive human language. Shouting curly. Shouting very scarily. Manny and his mate jolted their heads up. His mate ran along with her son. Panic expressed in her large honey brown eyes. Manny tried to run along with his mate. But he wanted to protect them. He remembered himself turning around to fight. Remembered seeing the humans come at him from both sides, threatening him with their spears. He remembered being trapped by the humans. Turning around to face more humans. Hearing the desperate trumpet of his mate. Looking up to see her huddled in a corner with his son. His only son. Trapped by humans. He had no power. He remembered all to well his mate shielding his son's eyes. His son shouldn't see the humans coming at him. Not his last sight. He remembered too clearly. A sound that he could never forget. The sound of a human chant. He looked up higher to see humans on the very edge of the cliff right above his mate and four month old son. **(Animal years of course.) **He remembered the feeling that all time froze. It was the longest ten seconds of his life. He remembered desperately. Wanting to trample the humans. Wanting to save his mate and son. Wanting to do anything in the would that would save them. But he couldn't. There they were. The rocks were dropped. His mate and son died… right on the spot. "NO!" He remembered shouting.

Manny zoned back into definite reality. He knew where he was again. He could feel the ground under his feet. He could hear Sid gulp –and he could even hear Diego look from Sid to Manny. Manny desperately felt the urge to cry. Cry. But then would his son want that? Would his mate want that? Would they want Manny to be the way that he is right now? Ignoring life as it passes by? Too caught up in his own world and problems to realize the beauty of life? _'What do you want me to do?'_ He asked in his mind, feeling tears well up in his face.

He drew in a breath. Reaching out, he touched the painting of the small mammoth that still reminded him of his son. He could almost feel his son's fur with his trunk –though he was just petting stone. He smoothed his trunk across the painting's outline.

In a weird, but glorious way Manny could almost hear his son's voice speaking out to him. _"I love you too, Daddy! But I don't want you to feel bad for the rest of your life! Please! Just move on and live your life. Me and Mommy want to see you happy!" _The all too realistic voice begged. Suddenly, he felt his trunk bump something warm and delicate.

It was the baby's small arm. The baby was also touching the painting of his son. He turned to face Manny. Manny looked down at the little baby. Human or not… he didn't do this to his family. The baby seemed to love Manny –and Manny loved the little guy too!  
The baby decided to try to walk toward Manny and make his feel happier. He swiped his pink hand off of the wall. Clumsily, he teetered back and forth in attempt to find his balance. The baby fell forward.

Manny reflexively shot his trunk out to catch the little baby. Manny felt the kid grasp his trunk. Roshan looked up at Manny with large empathizing eyes. His pink lips twisted into a kind smile.

Manny smiled back at the baby in realization. He drew the baby close to him with his trunk as the baby reached for him. This time, it wasn't just the baby hugging Manny for petting zoo purposes. But Manny hugging the baby. Manny felt the visible tears welling up in his eyes.

Sid smiled at the beautiful sight. He wiped this running nose with his finger. Then wiped that on Diego's shoulder.

~*~*~*~

"Gross!" Crash and Eddie exclaimed.

"You're telling me!" Diego murmured, giving Sid a dirty look. Sid smiled goofily, slightly embarrassed.

~*~*~*~*~

'_Ew!'_ Diego thought to himself, glaring at Sid absolutely disgusted. Sid put his paws together, and smiled at the beautiful sight. Manny raised the baby to his back, smiling as wide as Diego and Sid had ever seen him smile.

Sid just turned to Diego, now completely glowing with joy. He smiled to the tiger who raised an eyebrow at Diego. Sid grinned, goofily. He turned, and rushed to Manny's side. Smiling up at the mammoth.

Diego just stared at the retreating sloth. He now saw the way out of the cave. Illuminating light poked the way out into the awaiting snow. He saw Manny –a completely changed mammoth, walking happily with the small baby on his back and along side was Sid.

Diego felt his saber pride sink a little. He turned back to the painting of the mammoth family. _'I wonder what happened to Manny's family?'_ Diego asked himself feeling a flash of sympathy toward the mammoth. _'Guess that's why he was so crabby all the time.'_ Diego felt tears well up in his eyes staring at the painting. For the first time on the trip, he felt a flash of guilt run through him. Turning to go, he blinked away a few tears.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

All of the group's eyes were on Manny.

"You okay?" Sid asked Manny.

Manny smiled at Sid, "Yeah guys, I'm really fine." He smiled, the glow of the fire illuminated his face.

Ellie locked her trunk in Manny's –tighter if possible.

The sounds of the night were still, only the sound of the fire was audible…

**Wow… I seriously almost cried when writing this. Thanks for reading! Please review! : )**


	15. A Hot Foot

**Sorry for the totally stupid mistakes found in the last chapter. I accidentally sent in the first draft instead of my revised draft. : P All of that revising for nothing! Well, as a plus this chapter will be really fun to write! Thanks to everyone for always being so kind to me, I really appreciate every single one of your inputs!**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Fifteen- A Hot Foot_

"Manny," Sid finally spoke up, "You never told us that you heard your son talking to you."

Manny shrugged lightly. Diego, Crash, Eddie and Ellie all leaned awkwardly closer into the fire, all awaiting Manny's response. Finally, Manny answered, "Yeah, well…I'm not really sure why I never told you guys. I guess I sorta forgot about that." He said, almost sadly. "But now that I'm remembering that," he paused, "It feels nice." Manny finished smiling.

"I'm happy you're happy." Ellie chirped, slipping her trunk out of Manny's, relieved.

"Me too, buddy!" Sid exclaimed, moving from the place he was sitting at to Manny's side.

"Sid…" Manny began to object, but was cut off by Sid's gaze. Sighing, Manny ignored his position on being hugged by Sid. "Alright, alright…"

"Yes!" Sid exclaimed in victory, hugging the mammoth's leg.

Sid stared at Diego from across the fire, encouraging him to join the hug. Manny turned his head to meet Diego's eyes. Diego cracked a grin at his friend, "I'm happy you're happy too."

"Thanks." Manny responded. Crash and Eddie ran up to the mammoth and joined him on his tusks.

"Manny," Eddie began, speaking for his brother as well. "We knew what happened to your family; but we never really knew –you know—how much it affected you." Eddie spoke fluently without a hint of the usual sarcasm or humor in his tone.

Crash decided to chime in, "We've got respect for you dude!" He said in a more humored tone, but at the same time, the statement was meant. Manny, and the whole group knew that. This was, especially for the twins, really sweet. Manny's face lit up even more.

"Thanks, guys."

A few moments had passed. On Sid's way back to Diego's side he broke a few twigs off of a near by shrub and flipped them into the fire. Crash and Eddie decided to stay on Manny's tusks for a change. Ellie scooted closer to Manny, who scooted closer to her. Diego, contently, stretched momentarily.

All was quiet. Only the evening sounds of wind intermittently rustling the fresh leaves and the nighttime bugs could be heard. The smell of the misty dew forming on the clean grass intoxicated the air. The warmth of the campfire however, remained strong. Crash yawned, and Sid's voice finally broke the silence that had lasted for what seemed like centuries.

"So, after that, we all left the cave totally changed animals."

"Who changed _him_ to story teller?" Crash asked to noone in particular –and he received no response. Sid smirked at the possum and then continued…

* * *

A changed atmosphere surrounded the traveling animals. The baby had squirmed eagerly on Manny's back, demanding to be let down. Manny held the baby with his trunk now.

Though the temperature continued to lower, and the frost would not give up, the animals continued walking. Manfred and Sid, now more eager than ever to return the baby to his father. And Diego, though with the slip of pride, determined to betray the animals that he was with.

"Well, would you look at that," Manny marveled, "The tiger actually did it! There's Half-Peak, next stop, Glacier Pass." He stared across the narrowed expanse he and his new friends were walking towards. Half-Peak made it's presence known, towering it's dark features through some misty clouds. Glacier Pass was just barley perceptible through the thick blast of snow. The mammoth turned to Diego, happiness flowing through his voice, "How could I ever have doubted you?"

Diego continued to walk just straight ahead to his pack. He growled, inaudibly, in his throat. Guilt, again flashed itself through his mind.

Ever since the animals left the cave, Sid's stride picked up a bit. He smiled at the cooing baby. "Did 'ya hear that little fella? You're almost home!" He reassured the kid. But then… he felt something on his feet. What should have been uncomfortably freezing ground was uncomfortably warm. Sid halted in mid stride. He picked one foot up, and then the other foot up. Noticing that his paw prints had a red undertone. "My feet are sweaty." He said to the animals ahead of him.

Diego turned his head to the sloth, "Do we have to get a newsflash every time your body does something?"

"He's doin' it for attention. Just ignore him." Manny advised the tiger.

"Seriously!" Sid murmured, anxiously, "My-feet-are-really-_hot! Ow-ohh-ohh!"_

There was a low rumbling sound that shook the landscape. This time, the animals were in a complete standstill. Manny and Diego looked at one another, uneasily.

"Tell me that was your stomach." Manny said to the Diego.

"Shh." Diego shushed, flicking his ears upward.  
Sid finally caught up with the animals. "I'm sure it was just thunder." He said, attempting to convince the animals. There was a crackling noise, contradicting Sid's guess. "From…under…ground?"

Suddenly, an earsplitting explosion shot up a tall splash of molten lava with chunks of the icy ground.

"RUN!" The group of animals yelled in unison.

Sid and Manny ran straight ahead. To their sides, the ground fell apart, revealing the fatal lava below. Diego ran to the side as lava erupted in front of his face. Deciding that it was his safest bet to stay with the group, he dashed back in line with Manny and Sid. Ground everywhere broke, causing about a ten-foot wide bridge forming as the animal's only way to solid ground.

Sid traveled in front of Manny as fast as fast as he could. Manny was only a few inches behind him with the baby in his trunk. Diego was a few feet behind Manny when- a large chunk of the ground broke, and fell to the lava directly in front of his face. Diego's heart froze. His hazel eyes widened at the terrifying sight. He watched as the ice fell to the lava below. He looked ahead to the mammoth and sloth.

"C'mon," Sid said to the mammoth, moving his legs as fast as he could –unfortunately doing nothing but running in place. He fell miserably to the ground. Manny's eyes winded.

"I would if you were _moving!"_ He yelled to the sloth. Sid looked up to see Diego.

_'I can make this!'_ Diego's pride reassured himself. He set for the jump…then leaped from the slice of land he was on to the safety of the bridge. He skidded behind Manny to a stop.

"Wow," Sid observed, "I wish I could jump like that."

Manny groaned, there was no time for this. "Wish granted," he exclaimed, kicking the sloth as heard as he could.

Sid screamed, he flew over the vanishing ground. He saw the flashes of lava below him. He then safely landed on the other side of the bridge. Skidding from the ice, to the dirt, he landed into a rock.

Diego's eyes shifted from the threatening lava below, up to Manfred.

"C'mon," He jerked his head up, "Move faster!"

Manny turned to slightly to Diego, "Have you noticed the river of lava?"

Explosions everywhere. Ground breaking. Diego and Manny glanced around them. Sid's senses completely came to a dead stop –he could barley watch.

Manny turned his gaze downward. He could just see the ice melting away at his feet. He looked at the baby, anxiously, knowing that he would have to jump sooner or later. The baby's eyes grew wide. His pink fingers twisted around his trunk. He buried his head in Manny's trunk, and squeaked. Manny decided that it would be better to aim higher than lower. He mustered all of his energy. Thinking of no one at the moment but the baby. "Ahhhhh-Oh!" He grunted while jumping. Then, his feet –thankfully reached the solid icy ground. One of his hind legs slipped slightly, but he was satisfactory on solid ground.

Steam jutted from the lava where the ground fell. It hissed into Diego's face wickedly. Diego cringed, feeling fear flash throughout his whole body. Drawing in a breath, he made his decision. It was either jump, or die right here. Diego's pride told him to make the jump. He stared ahead, just to the safety of the other side of the bridge. Pride told him to jump, but…

…he didn't make it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

All eyes flashed from Sid to Diego.

"You didn't make the jump?" Ellie gasped.

Diego shivered slightly, remembering the feeling of being on that ledge. He shook his head at Ellie. "No. I mean, my front paws did –but the rest of me didn't." He admitted, laughing slightly.

"How'd you live?" Crash asked, eyes completely widened.

Diego gazed at Manny. To this day, Diego couldn't think of that moment without feeling guilty, or completely thankful to have Manny as his friend. Diego smiled at Manny, not just his normal smile, but an appreciative, and loyal smile to the mammoth. He looked to the sloth who just smiled back at Diego. Finally, the tiger spoke up, "Just listen to the story."

Sid continued.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Diego's claws gripped the edge of the piece of ice that he was holding onto –for his life. He struggled, holding his head up. Fear consumed his mind. The every one of his furs were raised in desperation. The tiger struggled to get a hold of the land that he was on.

Manny glanced back, just in time to see this situation! His mouth gaped open in disbelief. Diego was in trouble. He passed the baby to a shaken up Sid. "Hold Pinky!"

_'Diego!'_ Sid gasped in his mind. It wasn't until that moment, that Sid realized just how much Diego really mattered to him.

~*~*~*~*~

"Really?" Diego asked, staring at Sid, still feeling a slight twinge of guilt.

"Yeah, buddy!" Sid exclaimed to Diego, "We were pals. Even though you kind of scared me."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Manny edged toward Diego. Hearing the ice crack and melt away at his feet. He wanted to save Diego. He _had_ to save him. He extended his trunk toward the struggling tiger. Adrenaline rushed through both Diego and Manny. Diego clawed to reach the trunk. Manny extended his trunk to reach Diego.

For moments, paw reached to trunk. Inching closer and closer together but… it was too late! The ice gave away, and Diego fell down into the smoky depths below. He stared the lava right in the face. He prepared himself to feel the pain.

Instead, he felt Manny's trunk wrap around his front paw. Everything happened too fast for Diego to process. Diego robotically just stared down into the lava where he should be falling into now. He then stared into the mammoth's honey colored eyes. Still shaking with fear, Diego flinched, as the steam sent the section of land that he was previously on, flying into the air.

Sid stared across at the two friends of his. Fear, the only characteristic shown on his face. The baby looked up at Sid. His eyes not fooled by the situation at hand, his tiny pink fingers gripped the sloth's fur.

Diego knew that they didn't have all day. Struggling, Diego dug his claws deep into Manny's trunk in order to gain a solid grip. Manny's eyes closed in response to the sharp pain. He felt the ice he was on completely break with the weight with the two animals. Manny's eyes shifted to where Diego had to go in order to be safe. Manny threw Diego over his shoulder.

Diego screamed, and skidded to a stop next to Sid. It wasn't until Diego was on solid ground until he could register what had happened.

Manny was willing to risk his life to save his.

There was another crack of ice. Manny's eyes darted from left to right on the large block of ice he was on. What could he do? Suddenly, the ice broke, sending the mammoth down into the lava below. Manny trumpeted in fear.

"Manny!" Sid yelled.

Diego stared to where the mammoth once was. His mouth wide open. _'No!'_ This could not have been happening. Manny… Manny who Diego was going to betray just the next day… had just died in order to save him. Diego and Sid could only stare at each other, shock and disbelief consumed their minds as they watched their friend fall. Until…

Manny's trumpeting welcomed the two again. With a flash of smoke, followed by a loud thud, Manny hit the ground. He had been shot up by the steam –thankfully. And he survived.

Manny closed his eyes in the pain that he was in. Was he really alive after all of that?

Instantly, Sid ran up to the unmoving mammoth.

"Manny, Manny, Manny, you okay? C'mon, c'mon. Say somethin'. Anything!" Sid pleaded, running over to Manny's side, setting the concerned baby on the ground.

"Nrr. Nann. Non. Ni. Nunk." Came the muffled response.

"What? What?" Sid moved closer to the mammoth, "I can't hear you!"

"You're standing on my trunk…" Came Manny's weak response.

"Oh!" Sid gasped, removing his foot.

Manny drew in possibly the biggest breath he had ever taken.

"Oh you're okay!" Sid cheered, "Oh you're okay!"

Diego only stared ahead at the mammoth. What do you say to someone who just almost died for you? Thank you just seemed so small and insignificant. "Why did you do that?" Diego asked, not completely meeting eye contact. "You could have _died_ trying to save me…"

Manny's eyes met Diego's, they were smiling. "That's what you do in a herd. You look out for each other." The baby plopped his little hands on Manny's tusk. Roshan smiled at the tiger. Sid looked over at the tiger as well, walking closer to Manfred and the tiny human.

Diego's pride instantly diminished. "Well," he said, closing his eyes. "Thanks," He exhaled, his eyes met Manny's then fell to the ground once again. Then he smiled up to the mammoth –slightly.

Sid picked up the baby, "I don't know about you guys, but, we are the _weirdest_ herd I have ever seen!"

The baby cooed in agreement.

~*~*~*~*~

Diego stared at Manny from across the fire. "Uh. I never really said a proper thank you."

"Yeah you did." Manny reassured Diego, "You said, 'well thanks.' And…" Manny's voice trailed off, not wanting to give away anything later.

Diego shook his head, "There's no way I could thank you enough for that. Especially, considering what I was planning to do to you." He said.

Manny smiled at Diego, "Don't worry about it."

Ellie looked up at Manny, "That's so brave." She smiled at him, "And I don't mean to call you stupid." She giggled.

"You should have seen it live!" Sid declared.

**Wow! This took a while to write! Thanks taking the time to read it! Please review! = ]**


	16. Friends

**Hi guys! First off, let me say that I'm so sorry for not updating in a while… I've been really busy. And especially the week before a cheer competition, I can't focus my mind enough to write. And I don't just want to rush this story, I feel like it's not fair for you guys to read unless I put my best into the chapter! : ) I am truly sorry for those of you who waited so long. But I really needed to get this chapter out! But I wanted to say a big, HUGE thank you to everyone so far who has reviewed and read, and who will still read even after the wait. It might not seem like much, but it does mean a lot to me! So thank you! : )**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Sixteen- Friends_

Ellie turned to Sid, "I bet that it was really cool!" She said, her voice, climbed a pitch higher.

Sid nodded.

"What…" Eddie yawned, "Happened next?" He asked the group, his eyes drooping slightly.

"Tired?" Ellie asked.

"No! Not really," Eddie responded quickly.

Crash laughed, "Wimp!"

"Am not!"

Manny groaned as the brothers began to fight, "Guys…"

"Whatever," Ellie rolled her apple eyes, "Let them fight. _They'll just miss the rest of the story!"_ Her voice bounced over the possums squabbling tones. And almost like magic, the brothers magnetically returned to their positions on Ellie's tusks.

"What happened next?" Eddie and Crash both exclaimed loudly.

Before anything was answered, Sid flinched, "Ah-" He cut off his scream once he realized that what had just buzzed in his ear was simply a harmless bug. He smiled, sheepishly.

"What… was that?" Diego asked, grinning slightly.

"Um… nothing, nothing." Sid laughed gawkily. "Well, where were we? After the lava?" Receiving nods, he continued, "Well, after we helped Manny up… it was kind of funny!" Sid laughed, reminiscing on a funny memory of the journey.

Manny, and Diego grew somewhat silent after that near-death experience. Sid sighed; beginning to play with the baby he realized that the kid was… wet.

"Uh, guys?" Manny and Diego turned around, "In all of that excitement… I think the baby wet himself!"

Sid was expecting a: "Well change it!" response, or something like, "You're the poop checker!" Instead, Manny and Diego both looked at Sid and both of them, to his surprise smiled! Manny, more than Diego –but it was still progress! Manny began to laugh, even Diego contributed a small chuckle, and Sid laughed along too. For once, they were all laughing with him, not at him!

The baby even let out a bubbly chuckle himself, oblivious to the fact that he was the butt of the joke.

"Hey! I don't know about you guys, but I was about to wet myself too!" Manny (for the first time) joked!

"I think we were _all_ gonna wet ourselves." Diego said, cracking a crooked grin.

"Alright, alright, lets get him clean, I guess." Manny said, still stubborn a grin remained on his face.

"Fine!" Sid smiled, scooping the baby up in his hands. Looking back at Manny and Diego, he smiled to himself. He never had laughed like that with anyone. It just proved that he, Manny… and even Diego had become true friends, well, as far as he was concerned. And he liked that!

"I completely forgot about that!" Diego chuckled.

"I did too, actually!" Manny said with a lightly humored tone.

"Well, I didn't! I remembered it though because, it was really the first time that I felt a part of the group with us all laughing." Sid announced. He looked toward Manny and Diego and smiled.

"That was fun!" Diego nodded.

"Yeah," Manny said, "And Sid-" Manny yawned,_ 'Might as well say it so he can be happy.'_ Manny thought to himself, then he spoke, "I'm glad that you got to feel like part of the group then."

"Aww! How sweet!" Ellie said to Manny, patting his trunk.

Sid smiled, coming from Manny, that was a lot. "Thank buddy!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, skip the mush and get on with the story!" Crash murmured impatiently.

"Well," Sid continued,

Once he returned from cleaning the baby, the animals continued walking. The sun had been almost instantly replaced by long, gray clouds. The temperature had dropped about fifteen degrees, solidifying the fallen snow that had built up over ice. And before long, another snowstorm graced the herd with its presence. For the following hours, the herd struggled through flying ice and snow. Snow whipped past, brushing against each of the four faces with an aggressive strike. The baby began to cry a loud, sharp cry. Sid waddled with all of his energy, against the wind up to Manfred and handed him the baby. Sid knew that the mammoth's thick fur would keep the kid warm better than his. Diego, uselessly, took the lead, there was no way that he could smell a thing, but his eyes were better in the dark… though he could barley lift his head above shoulder level.

Manny sighed out a puff of white air. What an insane day. He set the baby on top of his back, feeling him cuddle into his fur. Manny looked ahead of him, Diego was about three feet ahead, and he looked back at Sid, who was about six feet behind. Manny laughed, slightly, at the distance difference. How had he let these two get to him? He couldn't believe what had just happened in the past day. He woke up absolutely stressed and choleric even. Given up on the thought of ever being happy again. Who knew that in the course of twenty four hours –less, in fact that he would be able to become happier. Who knew that he would have been able to actually _hear_ his own son? Who knew that he would actually _save_ Diego? Who knew that he would even get closer to _liking _Sid… or Diego?

Sid crossed his arms as close as he could, just to keep himself warm. He looked up at Manny, with the baby on top of his back and smiled. Then he looked at Diego and smiled as well. They were finally becoming closer. Maybe they could stay friends? After they returned Pinky even? Sharp snow drifted into Sid's eyes. _'Ow!'_ he thought to himself. Who knows, it was probably just wishful thinking for now. But he still hoped that they could stay together. He needed friends –better friends than just his family who didn't seem to care about him at all.

Diego huffed against the harsh wind. Angry, sad, happy, and confused all at once. He let out a low snarl to himself, completely inaudible with the sound of the wind. At this point he told himself to just be a saber, and to say loyal to his pack… but as he walked further and further… he was growing closer and closer to Manny, the baby… and even _Sid? _It was becoming harder and harder to even think of them as food. Why? How? Soto would kill him if he didn't deliver the baby. He then noticed that the kid had stopped crying. _'Tough kid.'_ Diego thought to himself. He glared at the wind in front of his face, what was he gonna do?

The animals then passed a large wall. It resembled a large cave without an entrance –as if a cave had been cut in half. Manny could tell that it was already late. The wind howled devilishly at the animals. He felt the baby move slightly on his back. "Guys!" He spoke up, "We gotta get this kid out of the wind!" Turning to Diego, he asked, "How much further?"

"Three miles." Came the response.

Sid completely stopped in his tracks. He looked at the large shelter. Then, down at a smaller stone on the ground. An idea popped into Sid's head. _'You never see any sloths in those things…until now!'_ He cheered mentally, picking up the small stone, he began sketching a sloth onto the wall.

In the distance he heard Manny say, "I'm beat. We'll get there in the morning." Out of the corner of his eye he saw the animals turn around and look at him.

"What are you doin'?" Diego asked the sloth.

Without looking up from his picture, he replied, "I'm putting sloths on the map!" He finished the little scribble and turned to show the group.

Diego frowned at the badly scribbled sloth on the wall.

The baby peered around at the drawing from behind Manny's head. "Yeah, why don't 'ya make it realistic and draw him lying down?" Manny suggested.

Sid turned from the wall, giving Manfred a dirty look.

"And make him rounder." Diego replied in a smooth voice. Sid turned to Diego, while Manny grabbed the rock out of Sid's paw.

Manny drew a round belly on the sloth, making the drawing more character fitting.

"Perfect!" Diego complimented.

Manny and Diego smiled in humor. "Ha-ha." Sid "laughed" sarcastically, "I forgot how to laugh." He grabbed the stone from Manny's trunk and scribbled and scribbled over the belly that Manny drew.

Suddenly, there was a crack, and orange sparks flew from the rock wall, catching some nearby twigs on fire. With a few crackles and a hiss, an orange glow turned into a small fire. Manny squinted in amazement. Did _Sid_ really just start a fire?

The baby smiled at Sid from Manny's back.

Diego's eyes rounded, and his mouth hung open slightly. Sid grinned at the reactions that he got.

"I'm a genius!" He announced, and kissed the little stone.

"And THAT'S why you call yourself Lord of the Flame!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Wow! You guys must've been shocked. _Sid_ above all animals, started a fire." Crash said. Sid nodded his head in amusement.

Ellie smiled at Manny and Diego, "Surprise, surprise." She giggled.

Diego turned to Sid, "I will admit, I was not expecting that." Diego said, smiling slightly.

Manny nodded, "Yeah, I don't know how you did it…but… you did."

"Thank you, thank you, hold the applause." Sid said in a smooth voice. Diego and Manny rolled their eyes. "So! After that, I gathered up a bunch of other sticks to build up the fire. And because of me, we were warm for the whole night!"

The fire cracked, the mixed smell of snow and burning wood created a strange incent in the air. Diego sat on one side of the fire with Manny and the baby closer than the previous night and Sid stood next to Manny. Turning around to face the three he announced, "From now on you'll have to refer to me as… _Sid_ Lord of the Flame!" He announced his title. Manny cracked a faint grin.

"Hey Lord of the Flame! Your tail is on fire." Manny said to the sloth.

Sid's eyes widened as he directed his attention toward his backside. "Ah!" He yelled, and ran around in a circle around the fire. A trail of smoke was comically following him. The baby's laugh filled the air.

Diego stood up, noticing a small pile of snow next to him. As Sid ran past him, he reached out his paw and pulled the sloth with his claws into the snow. There was a sizzle, as Sid sighed in relief.

"Oh! Oh. Thank you!" Sid said to Diego. Getting up, he looked at the tiger, graciously. "From now on, I'm gonna call you, Diego-"

"Lord of Touch me, and you're dead." He sneered. Sid gasped, taken aback from the sudden reaction.

Diego felt a sudden humor take over his mood, "Nah- I'm just kidding, you little knuckle head!" Diego suddenly drew the sloth closer to him and gave him a rough noggie on top of his head.

Crash shifted his gaze from Sid to Diego, "Okay then."

Diego cracked a smile, remembering the funny memory, "Hey! It was a rough day, I had to release some stress on Sid's head."

To Sid's luck, Manny's voice interrupted the somewhat weird and painful event. "Hey lovebirds!"  
Diego paused, giving Sid a moment to raise his head up. Both Sid and Diego almost froze from shock.

"Look at this!" The baby leaned his back on Manny's firm trunk for his support. Tottering, he lifted a pudgy leg in the air. Then another, and then another. He let out some satisfied coos.

"I don't believe it!" Sid walked forward; he turned toward Diego and smiled. Diego smiled back at Sid, and then smiled at Manny –who returned the look with a warm smile too.

Sid took a step forward, encouraging the small boy. "Come here you little biped!" He cooed to the smiling baby. Roshan slowly but surely made his way towards Sid. "Come here you little wormey-worm! Come to Uncle Sid!"

Suddenly, the baby switched directions.

"Oh! No, no, no! This way! This way!" Sid encouraged.

But it was no good, Roshan took his first steps to Diego! Moving his small legs toward the tiger as fast as he could, he excitedly smiled at Diego.

"No." Diego said to the little baby, "No, no, no, no. G-Go to him." With no luck on Diego's part, the baby continued to totter toward Diego. "Go to him." Diego repeated, raising his voice a pitch higher as if that would be a way to communicate with Roshan further. Diego, uneasily, backed up from the eager baby. But, the kid was faster. He fell forward and hugged onto Diego's front leg. "Umm…okay." Diego's pride instantly shattered.

The baby let out a triumphant squeal.

"Good job." Diego said, attempting to recollect himself as he raised his paw so that the clinging baby got his feet back on the ground. "Uhh- keep practicing." Diego said giving Roshan an encouraging nudge with his paw.

Roshan turned his head, looking back at Diego.

Diego just stared ahead, as the kid made his way back to Manny. _'Maybe… I shouldn't do this?'_ He thought to himself, and almost immediately after, hearing Soto's threat echo in his head, _'Unless you want to serve yourself as a replacement.' _His troubled thoughts were interrupted with a…

"Pshew!" The baby sneezed himself to the ground. Rubbing his round eyes he let out a cute yawn.

"Alright, c'mon. Sleep time Lumpy!" Manny said, walking forward, he lifted the baby in his trunk and carried him over to sleep next to him.

Walking next to Diego, Sid smiled. "Look at that big pushover." Sid muttered, walking closer to Diego, he sat down next to the tiger. Silence was soon filled the air- with an exception to the cracking fire and blowing snow outside. "You know, Diego, I've never had a friend that would've risked his life for me." Sid said.

"Yeah, Manny's… he's a good guy." Was all that Diego could muster up to say.

"Yeah he is." Sid grinned toothily at the tiger. Diego's eyes, not meeting Sid's, just faced off into the fire. "Well," Sid turned around, "Goodnight."

Without a response, Diego simply stared off into the flames. _'What the hell do I do?'_ He asked himself. His pride told him to stick with the plan. It told him that Manny and Sid were nothing more than food, and the baby was nothing more than revenge… he could hear those words as if Soto were right in front of him saying so.

Diego lied down, setting his chin on his paws. But his thoughts were far from silent. _"Are you gonna base your whole life to make Soto happy?'_

'_It's for the best of the pack!' _

'_It's also wrong and sick. An innocent cub… human, saber, it doesn't mater. It- he is still a cub… the sweetest one I've ever known at that.'_

'_His pack killed your pack!' The venomous voice hissed._

'_But HE didn't. And he actually loves you. His first steps were toward YOU!'_

Diego couldn't handle any more conflicting thoughts right now. He looked up at the outline of Half Peak. The still falling snow raced across the dark snow. He turned his head back toward the fire. He again put his head on his paw, and closed his eyes. It was not a good sleep…

"I can't believe that he walked to _you_ first!" Ellie exclaimed, "That's so sweet."

Diego nodded, "He was a sweet kid."

"I was kind of disappointed." Sid said.

"Kid had good taste." Diego shrugged.

"I can't believe that he walked to you either. I mean, I was actually happy that he did." Manny said

"Thanks, I wasn't very happy about that –at the time. You know, considering the situation… but now, I'm really glad." Diego said.

"I am too… sort of now that you mention it. Is that what made you-" Sid was interrupted then by Eddie.

"If it's anything giving anything away, I can't hear it!" Eddie exclaimed, receiving a fist pound from his brother.

"Oh yeah! Sorry." Sid exclaimed.

"It's alright," Ellie said, smiling, "Just go on with the story."

**Again, I'm sorry for the long update! Again, just really busy, but I really wanted to write this chapter. : ) I loved writing this. Oh! And I realized that I had some dialogue problems in the last few chapters, I actually said them in my head as I was writing, but I didn't include them… : ( which really sucks. But I've double… and TRIPLE checked this chapter! So I really hope that it was good! Please review if you still want to! I'm again sorry for the wait.**


	17. Trust Me

**Hi everyone! First off, I'm truly, sincerely sorry for the drastic gaps between chapters, I really do feel bad about it : ( I've just been pretty stressed with school work and ahhhh life has been hectic! But here's the next chapter! I want to sincerely thank everyone who has stayed with me throughout this story, I'm so blessed to have such great readers/ friends on the site : ) So, thank you everyone for your patience! Oh yeah, one more thing, as I write my stories, I do include the line breaks between tenses, but deletes them once I post them = [ ! So, sorry for the difficulty to read! I'm trying something new this chapter that will (hopefully) work! So, without further ado, here's the next chapter! ; )**

_Campfire Stories _

_Chapter 17- Trust Me_

The fire snapped against the silent night air. Everyone sat still unresponsive to Ellie –as if she had never spoken. Crash coughed purposely, just to break the silence. Cicadas sent their buzzes through the star dotted air. A slight breeze rustled the dew splattered leaves.

"So…" Crash mumbled.

"So… why did we all stop talking?" Eddie asked the group, once again climbing on to Ellie's tusk.

Sid cleared his throat, " I wouldn't know."  
"Well…" Ellie said, "Is the story gonna continue anytime soon?" Passing a glance toward Manny, who was zoning out in the flames. "Manny!" She exclaimed, hitting him with her trunk.

"Wha- oh sorry. Does anyone else want to tell the story? I'm tired of talking," he groaned.

Sid opened his mouth for a moment, but Diego beat him to it, "I'll tell it for a while," He volunteered.

"Aw. Why do you always get to tell the best parts?" Sid jokingly whined.

"Cuz I'm the best storyteller." Diego smirked.

"You aren't unless you tell it _right_ now!" Crash mentioned.

Diego nodded, "okay, well, we –"

"I just want to go to sleep, C'mon guys, let's at least get a little bit of sleep before we continue. It could be… a cliffhanger-"

Before he could finish, Manny was interrupted by a resounding "No!" Manny groaned, "Okay, okay, just thought I'd try one last time."

"WAKE UP!" Ellie shouted, laughing.

"Yeah, really Manny, "Think of it this way, it's not late at night, just really early in the morning!" Sid said, chuckling.

Manny cracked a smile, "Yeah, well last time I checked, mammoth's weren't nocturnal."

"Who cares? You need to stay awake for this part!" Diego exclaimed!

"What happens?" Eddie leaned forward eagerly, flame igniting his dark brown eyes.

"I'm trying to tell you, but I keep getting interrupted," Diego shrugged, smirking.

"Okay, okay, everyone shut up!" Crash ordered, discontinuing a conversation between Sid, Ellie and Manny.

"Okay," Diego grinned, flame casting two elongated shadows off of his sabers. "It all started when Manny got us up. I didn't want even think of waking up… for obvious reasons."

**(New line breakers… drum roll please)**

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Manny blinked, instantly feeling the cool sting of the newly fallen snow. He took a glance around the camp and yawned. His eyes widened, he saw the charcoal floor with the sleeping sloth and saber, then nothing in the background but white. The sky was a faded white gray, but it blended purely into the white background. The snow sparkled in the slight light that broke through the dim low-hanging clouds. Manny groaned, he knew that they had woken up a lot later than they had planned.

He caught a glimpse of the charred wood that was left over from the fire. Sid's doodle was still on the cave wall. A cold blanket surrounded the area. But they had to get moving. He slightly nudged the baby awake, but the kid just fell limp in Manny's trunk. Manny sighed, and wrapped the baby in his trunk and proceeded to wake the others.

"Sid! It's time to get up!" Manny walked over to the snoring sloth, he set the baby down next to him and shook him awake.

"What?" Sid yawned, stretching his arms, "Morning already?"

"Yeah, and I think that we slept in we really have to get going. I'll wake Diego up. Here, take the kid. We should probably change him before we bring him back to his herd."

Groaning, the sloth gently took the small bundle in his hands. The movement, however, was too much of a disturbance for Roshan. He let out a slight whimper. "No, no, no, it's okay little guy," Sid coaxed, waddling off to a place where he could clean the diaper.

"Diego!" Manny muttered, "Rise and shine!" He unenthusiastically said, nudging the sleeping saber in the shoulder with his trunk.

_Diego saw the scene all too vividly. There he was. Soto was right in front of him. And there were the humans with their deadly spears. Diego could feel the tears welling up inside of him, but this was not a time to show weakness. He looked to his right to see his older sister lying on the ground dead. He couldn't help himself, tears patted to the ground underneath his paws. 'Wha- What do we do, Soto?' He looked to his left and saw Zeke running and murmuring incomprehensive words. _

'_Diego!' He heard Soto call, and turned to see where the voice had come from, 'It's over. We lost! Get your ass up here before they kill you too!' Soto's voice. It was as hard and cold as granite. Diego saw Soto, and his three other remaining siblings in the woods, a long run from where he was standing. He knew that his presence was beginning to attract the attention of the human hunters. He had no choice, he dashed. Right before he left the human campsite, he turned to saw the human mother, the same one he had chased off of the waterfall, holding her newborn human cub. The scene swiftly changed._

_Now, Diego was facing that same baby –Roshan, his baby, and Manny and Sid. Soto backed him up. The baby's cries broke the sound of the wind. 'Now Diego, kill it. Kill it, Diego. Kill it. Diego… Diego…Diego-'_

"Diego!" Manny's shaking finally woke him up.

Diego sat still for a brief second, collecting himself back to reality. "What?" He asked, a delayed second later.

Manny smirked, "Finally! Geez, you're a heavy sleeper. Let's go. We overslept."

"Now!" Diego jumped up. "How late is it?"

"We can still make it. But we have to go as soon as Sid and the kid get back. Did you sleep well?" Manny conversed, over the wailing wind.

"Terrific." Diego murmured, failing to meet Manny's gaze, he sighed. The feeling of extreme guilt sunk into Diego at that moment. Was he going to betray his new friends… or his pack?

Manny eyed Diego, about to comment when Sid ran back, covered head to toe in white flakes. "Sorry that took so long!" He yelled over the wind with the now smiling baby. He made it closer to the two animals. "But there was _a lot_ to clean in that thing! Hey Diego! You're up, look who it is!" He said to the baby holding him up to Diego's eye level.

Diego cracked a quarter of a smile.

Roshan cooed with delight and covered his eyes. Through a chubby pink finger he saw the tiger.

"BAH!" The baby cheered, uncovering his eyes.

"Uh- maybe later kid… we really should go." He turned, rejecting the requested peek-a-boo game and walked to Manny's side.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Woah!" Crash and Eddie both said at the same time, mouths remaining dropped.

"What?" Diego asked, about to continue the story.

"That dream was… intense." Crash exclaimed.

"Oh that! Well… yeah it was. But trust me, the rest of the story gets even more intense!"

"Was that really how it went?" Ellie asked Diego, "I mean, your dream. Was that what actually happened when the humans killed your pack?"

"Yeah! Actually, it was like I was reliving that moment or something. I was surprised 'cuz, well, you know how dreams are."

"Wow," Ellie said, "Diego, I'm really sorry about everything that happened. I mean, with your pack. That's so sad!"

"It's fine!" Diego reassured her, "but thanks!"

Ellie shot a smile across the fire at Diego as Sid spoke up, "We're here for you buddy!" Crash, Eddie and Manny all three nodded simultaneously.

Uncomfortably, Diego said, "Thanks guys, but really It's fine."

Manny, sensing this awkward moment said, "Okay, okay, Diego's fine. Let's let him to actually finish the story."

"Thank you," Diego grinned, "So. We walked for like…" he looked toward Sid for help.

"Um… an hour maybe," Sid shrugged.

"Okay, so we were walking for like another hour until we got to Half Peak…"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The three animals walked into the blowing, cold snow. Diego on Manny's left, and Sid and the baby to his right.

"Alright," Sid spoke to the baby, "Let's get you all cleaned up, I mean, what's your daddy gonna say if you go back all smushy and stinky like this?" Sid swiped his finger by the baby's eye, "Hm… we could stain that up, that looks good," he remarked, "A little bit here-" Sid spoke, licking his paw.

'_I guess I'll stop this now.'_ Manny thought to himself, pushing Sid's hand down, "You clean up nice little fella."

Diego just kept walking. He stared directly ahead of him, trying to assess the situation at hand. _'Maybe I could convince them to take a detour around Half Peak and think of an excuse for Soto… or maybe-'_ His thoughts were interrupted by Sid.

"I think he's starting to look like me!" Sid exclaimed with pride, holding the baby's face up to his, "Hey Diego, what do you think?"

Diego ignored the sloth. "Maybe we shouldn't do this." He suggested.

"Why not?"

"Because if we save him, he'll grow up to be a hunter. And who do you think he'll hunt?"

"Maybe because we saved him he won't hunt us?" Sid suggested while receiving a sharp nose poke from the baby, "Ow!"

The tension that was built up in Diego exploded, "Yeah, and maybe he'll grow fur, and a long skinny neck and call you mama!" Diego sneered sarcastically.

Sid made a face at Diego, unsure of what to say; the baby too opened his bright green eyes a little wider at the tiger.

"What's your problem?" Manny asked the saber.

Diego's jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth, after a pause he said, "Nothing. Let's go! I'm freezing my tail off!" Diego looked ahead of himself and stopped walking, allowing Manny and Sid to get ahead. They were only feet away from Half Peak now. It was speak now, or go along with the original plan.

'_LOYALTY!' _A voice in his head sneered. _'Yeah but… loyalty to who?'_ He asked himself.

How had he grown so close to these three? Not just three days ago they were nothing but food and revenge. And now they were his friends. Not just his friends, but also his pack. He couldn't watch this happen. Diego quickly glanced at the top of the peak and saw Oscar, who nodded down to Diego and walked away to signal the other tigers.

Diego looked back at his friends for one last time.

"Hey Diego, you frozen back there?" Manny called back toward Diego.

Diego felt his heart sink in his chest. How could he ever explain to them what he had done? They would hate him forever, but he owed them… he owed them everything. _'Either way, they're gonna find out. I'd rather have them alive and hate me, than dead and hate me.'_ Diego shot himself toward Manny and Sid, "Get down!" He ordered.

"What?" Sid and Manny asked in sync.

"Shh!" Diego hissed, wanting to avoid the other sabers' hearing range. "Get down and follow me!"

"Hey, hey, hey. What's going on?" Sid asked the tiger. Manny stood completely still.

Diego couldn't look at either Manny or Sid. He did not want to see the hatred in their eyes once he told them. He drew in a breath, _'Am I really going to do this?'_ he asked himself.

"At the bottom of Half Peak," He exhaled, "There's an ambush… waiting for you."

"What?" Sid gasped, looking at the Diego that he _thought _he knew in utter bewilderment.

"What do you mean _ambush?_" Manny glared at Diego, before he received an answer, he came to the realization himself. "You set us up."

Manny's words, spoken with such disbelief.

"It was my job!" Diego confessed, attempting to explain himself, "I was supposed to get the baby but then-"

"You brought us home for _dinner!"_ Manny shouted.

"That's it! _You're _out of the herd!" Sid exclaimed, pointing a claw at the tiger.

Diego glanced at the sloth, not meeting anyone's gaze he said, "I'm sorry."

Before Diego, or even Sid, could comprehend what was happening, Diego felt himself thrust against the cave wall. Manny pinned the tiger to the wall, by his throat, and began to apply pressure. Diego grasped his paws to Manny's tusk, just enough to breathe. "No you're not!" Manny glowered at the tiger, "Not yet."

"Listen!" Diego spoke as well as he could, "I can help you!"

Manny's eyes narrowed at his former friend. "Stay close, Sid," he instructed, "We can fight our way out!"

"You can't!" Diego replied almost instantly, chocking on his words, "the packs' too strong! You _have _to trust me!"

"Trust you! Why in the world would we _trust you?"_ Manny yelled.

Diego looked the mammoth straight into his eyes for possibly the first time in that entire day.

"Because I'm your only chance!"

Moments of silence passed. Diego glanced to Sid at the side of Manny. His eyes, fixed to Diego's. Diego shifted his gaze down to the baby Sid was holding in his arms. The baby's eyes looked up at the tiger, sadly.

"Manny," Sid spoke up, "He's telling the truth."

"Oh sure, like he's been telling the truth this _whole time!"_ Manny exclaimed, applying more pressure to Diego's throat. The tiger winced.

"Okay, so yes he _did_ lie to us. And he _did_ set us up. But, clearly he's changed. I mean, haven't we all changed… somehow in the past few days? Give him a chance!"

Diego's eyes widened at Sid, he looked at the sloth in complete disbelief, yet gratefulness.

"Please, Manny, trust him!" Sid begged.

Diego shifted his gaze from Sid to Manny. He was speechless; he searched Manny's eyes for any hint of the mammoth's next move. Not even moments later, Diego felt the pressure recede. He felt himself drop to the snow covered ground.

His right front paw slipped as it made contact with the ground, but that did not matter. He indulged in a fresh breath, and coughed slightly. He managed to look up the sloth and smile. "Thanks Sid!" He said in between breaths. "And I'm sorry for all of the death threats I've given you over the past few days."

Sid chuckled, "It's fine buddy!"

Manny groaned impatiently, "Okay, so you've got your air. Now just tell me how you expect to get us out of this mess?"

Diego paused, a certain tense silence hung in the air. All eyes rested on Diego as he mentally pieced over his plan. Finally, Diego spoke up.

"Okay, it's a little crazy, but I think it can work." He turned to the sloth, "Sid! You were really pretty good on that ice yesterday, how do you feel about balancing on bark?"

"What?" Sid and Manny asked in unison.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Bark? What?" Ellie asked.

"It's coming up!" Manny told her.

"Dude!" Eddie exclaimed turning toward Diego, "that… was… _so_… intense!"

"Yeah! Whenever you tell the story, it heats up!" Crash added.

"Well, it _was_ a pretty intense moment." Diego admitted. "And Sid, really, I never got the chance to properly thank you for that. So… thanks."

"Any time buddy!" Sid said to Diego.

"Oh yeah, Diego," Manny interjected, "I never really got the chance to tell you… sorry for that whole pinning you against the wall thing. I mean, it didn't hurt that bad, did it?" Manny asked, jokingly.

Diego shook his head, "Oh not at all, it felt good." Diego smirked.

"Okay! Good" Manny said, "But really, I am sorry."

"It's fine!" Diego replied.

"Okay!" Eddie said impatiently, what happened next?"

"Yeah, what's this thing with the bark?" Crash asked.

"Well…" Diego began…

**There you have it! The (much too long) awaited chapter of this story! I'm sorry again for the long wait! I promise no more ridiculous gaps between reviews like this one! I know that I told some of my readers and the viewers of my profile differently. But school, and practices got in the way. I'm not saying, I'll be able to update weekly, but definitely no more ridiculous waits like this one! I truly do feel bad for it. And if anyone out there still took the time to read this, thank you because it might not seem like a lot, but it does mean the world to me! = , ) Thank you to each of my reviewers who have encouraged me to keep going. I hope that you all liked this chapter! I spent a lot of time editing : P haha! Look out for an update in the next three weeks! (Maybe sooner, but definitely no later!)**


	18. Frostbite

**Hey guys! Thanks again for all of your kind reviews! I love them! :D Okay… here comes the chapter! :) (Oh my gosh! 18 chapters?)**

_Campfire Stories _

_Chapter Eighteen- Frostbite_

Diego paused, staring at the moon, contemplating what he could say next in the story. His green eyes reflected the firelight as he repeated, "Well…" Yet again, another silence struck the herd sitting around the quaint little fire. A warm breeze brushed each animal's fur.

"You said that already." Eddie informed the tiger, shivering slightly.

"Did I? I must've forgotten," Diego said sarcastically, turning to Sid he asked, "Uh where do I go from there?"

"It's okay, buddy." Sid said, "I can take it from here."

"No, no, no you can't I wanna tell this part," Diego smirked, " c'mon for obvious reasons."

"Yeah, but that doesn't happen till the very end!" Sid interjected, "I'll let you tell that part, but c'mon you told the last part!"

"No, I'm on a roll with this story telling thing. They like it better when I tell it."

"No, they like it better when I tell it!"  
Crash scoffed, "Someone tell it!"

Eddie rolled his eyes, impatiently, "Yeah, really. And _we're _the immature ones around here?"

Diego and Sid silently exchanged glances, Sid opened his mouth until Ellie interrupted.

"I think _Manny_ should tell this part!" Ellie exclaimed, hitting groggy mammoth with her trunk.

"Ow! What?" Manny cried, slightly jumping.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, stay awake," Ellie murmured, threateningly, "Stay awake."

Before Manny could respond, Crash spoke up, "So, you're telling the story now, so you _need_ to stay awake!"

"Okay, okay! Sorry. But… I really don't want to tell the story right now. I think Sid should." Manny groaned, he yawned for a moment then began.

Sid's face lit up immediately, "Really?" Receiving most nods, Sid continued the story." Okay, so it was after Diego told us his plan, right?"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Sid waddled, awkwardly with two pieces of bulky bark attached to his feet.

Manny shook his head, impatiently, "I still don't think this is going to work." He said, anxiously.

Diego huffed out a cloud of white air. "Okay, do you have a better idea?" Without a response, Diego nodded, whispering, "Okay, then let's stick to this one!" He turned to Sid, "Is the baby where he needs to be?"

"Yep!" Sid responded, tapping his skis together tentatively. "So when should we put this into action?" He asked, as Manny rolled his eyes.

"Uh. Like right now." Diego grinned, "Sid, go _now!_" Diego almost hissed. Nodding, Sid ran to his position –but not without tripping himself twice to get there. Manny and Diego stood, alone, listening to the wind hurl the twisting snowflakes in the air. With a few moments of awkward eye contact, Diego cleared his throat. "I'm gonna go now. You're good with everything."

"Got it," Manny murmured.

Diego nodded, "Okay." And he walked off, what was going on? His life had just turned completely upside down. This decision completely changed his world. His pack. Soto. Was he ready to let this all go? Diego forced himself forward to the crevice where Soto expected to meet him. Absolutely no way to turn back now. He reflexively clenched his jaw. Nothing would be the same again.

He saw the gathered tigers, and decided to regain his cool composure. "Hello ladies." Ears all around perked up, heads turned toward Diego.

"Hey look who decided to show up!" Oscars customary sneering voice greeted Diego.

Diego turned toward Oscar, about to deliver some kind of retort until Soto emerged from the higher point of the peak. "Diego, I was beginning to worry about you."

"No need to worry." Diego said, creeping onto the edged rock, leaving behind him a trail of white dusty paw prints. "In about two minutes you'll be satisfying your taste for revenge."

"Very nice," Soto's voice reflected his satisfaction.

Diego walked ahead toward an, as always, overly anxious Zeke.

"I see the sloth! And he's got the baby!" He exclaimed, to no one in particular, his voice was completely enriched with his usual insanity.

"Don't give away your positions until we see the mammoth." Soto commanded, "He is the one we have to surprise."

Diego smirked as he watched Zeke twitch with anxiety, he could hear Zeke's uncomfortable mutterings as he crept closer to his ear. "You wanna maul something, don't you Zeke?"

"Eh- heh. Yeah, I wanna maul." Zeke whined, anxiously putting hiss claw to his mouth. Diego glanced out of the corner of his eye to check if the other tigers were watching. With all eyes glued to Sid, Diego smirked, he edged closer to Zeke's ear. "Then what are you waiting for?"

Not even half of a moment passed before Zeke let out a loud roar. He charged toward the sloth, signaling the other tigers who leapt after him toward Sid.

"No! I said wait for the mammoth!" Soto sneered, Diego looked to Soto and shrugged. Soto groaned, growling, he bounded after the pack. Behind him, Diego slowed his pace, slinking away to Manny.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Woah, stop," Crash raised his paw, "You left _Sid_ alone? On two pieces of bark? With four other sabers? On a steep hill? In the snow? Sid? The same Sid right there?"

Diego laughed slightly, "Yeah, actually-"

Scoffing, Sid interrupted, "And what is so surprising about that?"

"Dude, you aren't exactly the 'battling sabers' type."

"Well, you just wait," Sid smirked.

Manny, and Diego both looked at Sid grinning. "Okay, so where was I?" He continued…

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Sid spotted four sabers darting towards him. _HIM!_ He turned, quickly. _'Why did I agree to this?'_ He glanced down to the fake baby in his hands made entirely out of snow and rocks bundled in the real baby's blanket. Smirking, Sid yelled, "Wahoo!" His "skis" popped out of the ground as he glided feet ahead of the sabers. Each saber paused for a moment in utter shock, disbelief and perhaps embarrassment, had the sloth actually outsmarted them? After a moment of recollecting themselves, they continued to run after Sid.

"Ah- ah-ah-ahh" Sid yelled, attempting to gain some force of equilibrium on the bark he was on. Swooping himself across the powdery snow, he jumped in the air flexing his legs behind his back. "Wee! Back-scratcher! Haha! Eat my powder!" Sid shouted back toward the other sabers as he advanced down the rock he was on, whipping ahead of the sabers. Oscar was the first to hit the ground, followed by Zeke, and Lenny simply plopped. Sid grinned at the sight, then –he looked ahead of himself. Sharp, jagged, tall rocks shot above his head.

Sid tried to edge himself through, until one clipped his one "ski", sending the sloth spinning. "Ah- Ahh!" He yelled, the fake baby, still tucked neatly and convincingly under his arm. Normally, Sid would have fallen. But miraculously, Sid kept his balance twisting around for a few seconds on one foot, he managed to plant that foot firmly on one piece of bark. Satisfied, Sid let out a laugh of victory. His mouth twisted into a smirk as he picked up speed with his fake baby and the bark. Snow whipped through his face but he didn't care. He was living in the moment; he was out running (and hey—_outsmarting_) four sabers, while riding down a steep hill on one piece of bark. If only his herd could see him now. Would they still regret leaving him behind for migration?

Impulsively, Sid swished over one of the rocks, letting out a shout of exhilaration. He landed on the ground, flipping off of another. "Woo! Looptey- loop!" Then, just to add the finishing touch, he hopped against another rock and successfully landed.

This. Was. Officially. The. Greatest. Moment. Of. His. Life.

"Woah- Yeah, slalom, slalom, baby!" He shouted, exhilarated. Laughing, he reflexively jumped over a row of rocks, maneuvering the bark under him. "Woo-hoo!" He called, looking back at the pathetic sabers running, if you could call it that, behind him. Soon, however, this victory of his ended when his board went off of the edge of the hill.

"Aaaahhhhhhhh!" Sid yelled, soaring through the sky, he landed on the ice-covered ground. He conveniently slid from the ground and shot in the air, onto a higher hill.

Sid watched the sabers approach the "baby". Oscar, Lenny and Zeke surrounded the bundle; their eyes were completely locked on it. Zeke mischievously reached a claw toward it until Soto approached. Soto ignored Zeke's sheepish grin. This was the moment he had been waiting for. Carefully, the saber reached forward to the baby, and with a claw turned the kid over and saw-

A snowbaby. Completed with rocks for eyes, the nose and a smiling mouth. Soto's eyes glistened with rage.

"Sorry fellas! He caught a little frost bite!" Sid shouted down to the sabers. Humor etched all over his face as Sid dashed away to the real baby. The other three sabers were completely unsure of the reaction their leader would take. Soto growled, shoving the icebaby away with as much force as his temper could express. "Get him!" Soto commanded.

Sid laughed to himself, hearing the pounding footsteps of the sabers behind him. He ran past Manny, and to the tree where the real Roshan was hiding. The sabers followed the sloth to the middle of half peak. Snowflakes were piled onto the rocks that had created this space.

The sabers rounded the corner but came to a complete stop once they saw Manny holding a very large log in his tusks. "Surprise!" Manny greeted, hurling the heavy wood at the tigers.

Oscar, Lenny and Zeke –too stunned to comprehend what had happened yelled as the log hit all three of them. Knocking them to the lower part of the hill. Successfully unconscious.

"Okay!" Diego announced to Manny. "Follow me. We'll pick up Sid and get out of here while we can." Diego turned away and Manny eagerly followed until an unexpected voice sounded.

"C'mon, Diego." Soto said as he rounded the corner.

Diego's eyes widened in sudden realization. Soto was here. Manny stared at Soto, he was transfixed on the larger tiger. This was a flaw in the original plan.

"Let's bring this mammoth down!"

_'No.'_ Diego thought in his head, his nightmare was coming true. Soto advanced toward Manny—his friend!

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Oh my gosh!" Ellie gasped, gripping onto Manny's trunk. "That's so scary!" Diego and Manny nodded simultaneously.

"Yeah, that kind of messed things up from there." Diego said, grinning.

Sid laughed, "You think?"

"We should have come up with an alternative." Manny shook his head.

"Hey- but if Soto was just a little slower then my plan would have been _perfect_!"

"Maybe." Manny said, somewhat unsure.

"Sid, are you telling the truth about outrunning those sabers?" Eddie asked, leaning into the fire.

"Yes!" Sid admitted proudly.

Crash and Eddie began whispering together, occasionally nodding. Then, they both spoke, "We don't believe you." They smirked.

"No! I swear. Normally, I mean. I guess I might tend to… _embellish_ a few details. But no, I swear I did everything that I said I did!" Sid said, nodding.

"Actually, as weird as this is," Manny said, " I'd believe him. I mean, he probably wouldn't be here if he didn't do as well as he said he did."

Ellie laughed, "That's true guys."

Sid nodded, "It took skill. Trust me!"

"I don't think you're lying about the flips and the other stuff you did." Diego said, "But did you really have the balls to tell Soto that the baby 'caught a little frost bite'. Cuz… he could have killed you, you know. Like, on the spot."

"I know, but I was in such a moment that I didn't even care!"

Diego chuckled, "Well Sid, you are badass."

**Well, I hoped you all liked it! Sorry its kind of after midnight. But technically, it's only an hour after my deadline so I'm satisfied. I'm sorry that this chapter is a little short though. :( But I would have either had to make a super mondo long chapter that would have been **_**impossible**_** to read, or have this chapter shorter so I could really work on making the next one as great as it can be! (And I decided to do that cuz the next chapter will be my favorite to write!) Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! Please review! They always brighten my day:) **


	19. That's What You do in a Herd

**Wow! Once again, thank you guys so much for all of your nice reviews! ;) This chapter will pretty much be my favorite one to write! So I'm very excited! **

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Nineteen- That's What You Do in a Herd_

"Well, I don't know if I would call Sid 'bad ass'." Manny said turning to Diego.

Quick-wittedly, Sid replied, "No? Well let's just see you balance on bark –loose one of the pieces, and still keep your balance _while_ you outrun four sabers."

Manny opened his mouth for a retort, until he realized that there was no response that would possibly defend his argument so he shut it quickly.

"I thought so!" Sid said, folding his arms together, satisfied.

Eddie and Crash hopped down from Ellie's tusks, creating a puff of dirt as they landed. Eddie spoke first, "My brother and I would like to applaud you with a fist pound." Smiling, Sid accepted and touched both fists to the noticeably smaller possum fists.

"Aw! How sweet of you two!" Ellie remarked.

Sid, Eddie and Crash finished off the fist pounds with some whispering and laughter. Eddie and Crash returned to their sister's tusks, Crash murmured, "Yeah, don't get used to it."

"Well that was sweet." Diego said, jokingly.

Eddie chuckled, "Shut up and tell us the rest."

Manny, Sid and Diego looked at each other, "Who wants to go?" Diego asked.

"You should tell this part." Manny replied.

Nodding, Diego said, "Oh yeah. I almost forgot."

"Almost forgot what?" Sid asked. Instantly realizing the answer, Sid nodded, "Oh yeah… Ow. This is all yours to tell."

"Ow what?" Ellie, Eddie and Crash asked simultaneously.

Diego grinned out of the corner of his mouth. "You'll find out…"

"Oh! Wait." Sid interrupted, heads turned toward him, "This'll just take a second, but I want to tell you guys another thing. You know your brother Zeke?" Sid asked Diego, receiving a nod. "Well, listen to this…"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Sid wandered over to where he and the others had decided to hide the baby, unaware of the crazed Zeke behind him, who's eyes lit in delight at the sight of the sloth –and the scent of the baby.

Sid walked toward the chunky rock structure where the baby was hidden. The baby peered out of the cave and squealed at the sight of Sid. "There he is," Sid said, reaching for the small baby with the grinning tiger behind his back. Covering and uncovering his eyes, the baby gave his best impression of a tiger growl, curling his pudgy hands over as if they were claws. "That's right, where's the baby?"

Suddenly, Sid stiffened, fur standing on end. He felt the warm breath of an approaching tiger behind him, and something told him that the tiger was not Diego. Sid gasped, whirling around. Zeke roared, _'That's it, I'm gonna die.'_ Sid thought to himself, simultaneously screaming. Reflexively, he snatched the baby out of the jagged hole, and ducked. Zeke, conveniently landed himself into the hole.

Once he realized that he was not dead, Sid looked at the baby's large and surprised face, and grinned at Zeke's butt that was sticking out of the hole. Feeling a rush of adrenaline, Sid hopped on Zeke's butt, pushing him further into the already confined hole.

"Survival"

"Of the"

"Fittest?"

Sid landed on the ground and held out his paw to the baby for a high five. "I don't think so. Yeah." Sid grinned, as the baby let out a squeak of agreement and high-fived the sloth. Turning, Sid walked away to Diego and Manny, eager to tell them of his adventure.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Diego smirked shaking his head, "Why do I believe that that would happen to Zeke?"

"I don't know." Sid shrugged, "But I felt pretty cool after I did that!"

"Well, even though it's not saying a lot that you outsmarted _Zeke_, I still applaud you." Diego said.

"Thanks, I—"

"Yeah, yeah. Good job. So, what happened next?" Eddie interjected, "I NEED to know!"

"Okay." Diego continued, "So…"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"C'mon, Diego, let's bring this mammoth down." Soto said, advancing toward Manny, baring his teeth.

Manny looked at both tigers. Soto let out a low, hungry growl. He shifted his gaze toward Diego, who echoed that growl. Diego paced toward Manny, keeping an equal distance with Soto. Manny could only stare at Diego, as he quickened his pace to get in front of Soto. _'I trusted you.'_ Manny glowered in his head, narrowing his eyes at Diego, who let out another growl.

Before Manny could finish this thought, Diego stepped in front of Soto, and turned to face him. He was in between Soto and the mammoth. Diego defensively growled at Soto, narrowing his eyes into slits, lowering his head. Manny's eyes widened with relieved surprise.

Soto jolted in utter shock, his fur became pin straight. "What are you _doing?"_ He grimaced through his teeth.

Diego's legs tightened as he held his position against his former leader. "Leave the mammoth alone." He replied, ominously.

Soto looked to his sides, seeing Oscar and Lenny come forward, now conscience. Pack members against pack member. "Fine," Soto declared, "I'll take you down first."

Glowering with piercing eyes, he circled around Diego. Who followed this circle, remaining in front of Manny. Soto let out a growl, which Diego returned with a snarl as he bared his fangs. Another roar and Soto leaped onto Diego, who quickly rolled over, and got to his feet. Both tigers faced off for a split second. Claws were prepared, and teeth became ready to sink to the opponent. Diego backed up, as Soto advanced on him. He quickly swiped Soto across the face with his claws. Soto stood with both feet on the ground and shifted his eyes toward Diego as rage built up inside of him.

He leapt to Diego, prepared to tear apart his face, but was blocked by Diego's front limbs.

Manny let out a defensive growl, and moved forward to crush Soto, but was blocked by a snarling Oscar and Lenny. He looked at the two fighting tigers in his foreground, _'I guess Diego can handle himself.'_ He thought as he noticed a large Lenny jump to the side of his face. He let out a small trumpet as he maneuvered his tusk to remove the fat tiger.

Soto pounced on top of Diego, who promptly kicked him off and returned the favor.

Manny looked down to see Oscar swipe at his right foot, which he moved away quickly, just as Lenny came inches from clamping down on his left one. He looked up for any opportunity to get rid of the two tigers, just as he saw Diego.

Diego positioned himself on top of Soto who immediately threw the tiger off. Diego glided through the snow with Soto's velocity, before he could react, the back of his head bashed into a rock sticking up in the snow. He unconsciously lay on the ground, claws still exposed.

Soto growled contently and stared at the tiger for a moment, certifying Diego's unconsciousness. Then, he turned back to the mammoth, who was continuing his attempts to fight off Oscar and Lenny. Soto crossed over directly facing Manny. Oscar and Lenny remained to Manny's side. They squared Manny into the deadly corner, cutting off his retreat. Manny's eyes widened in sudden realization. Soto slowly approached, as Manny helplessly backed up, uselessly swinging his tusks at the tigers.

'_I have you now Mammoth.'_ Soto grinned.

Manny looked behind himself once he felt his heel scrape against the side of the corner, he heard one of the tigers let out a sneer. He looked forward into Soto's eyes. Then, he glanced hopelessly at Diego over his shoulder.

Diego stirred groggily. Diego immediately felt the slamming pain in his head. He forced his eyes open to see Manny staring at him, then look back to Soto. Diego saw Soto growl as he enclosed on Manny. Without entirely knowing what he was doing, he forced himself to stand. _'Just gotta stop Soto from getting to him…'_ Diego dizzily mused in his head. He saw Manny swipe at Soto one last time. He saw Soto jump to make the final kill, sabers bared.

Diego instantly acted, doing the only thing he could think of to stop Soto. He intercepted Soto's blow, jumping into Soto, he felt instantly the worst, most paralyzing pain that he ever felt in his life. Soto's saber stabbed Diego straight into his belly. Clamping his eyes shut, Diego flopped to the ground, as blood appeared, staining the snow.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"What?" Crash, Eddie and Ellie instantaneously shouted. All eyes were turned toward Diego.

The fire cast an auburn glow on Diego's fur. Diego's mouth twisted into a crooked toothy grin, "Yeah, it… it really sucked."

"How are you still alive? Isn't that supposed to kill you?" Ellie asked with widened apple-green eyes.

"I don't even know how he did that." Manny admitted.

"Yeah," Sid said, turning toward Diego, "It did look pretty bad."

Diego shrugged, "One down, eight to go I guess?"

"What?" Eddie asked.

"Lives. You know… the nine lives thing?"

"Oh."

"Yeah…"

Once again, silence overtook the herd. The fire cracked, begging for more wood. Sid silently got up and yawned, walking over to a tree he snapped a few twigs off to toss into the flame.

Suddenly, Crash spoke up, "Do you have a scar?"

"I guess I would if fur didn't grow over it." Diego relied.

"But your fur has kind of a darker-ish white streak around that area," Ellie remarked motioning with her trunk at the saber, who was sitting in an upright position.

"Really?" He asked, looking downward in attempt to see the mark Ellie was talking about.

"Oh. I see it!" Sid said, walking over and tossing the sticks into the fire. "See?" He pointed toward a very faint, crooked mark in Diego's fur.

"Oh… I guess," Diego said, squinting.

"I sort of see it," Manny said, "But it's really hard to tell."

"Yeah! I see it too!" Crash observed, walking closer to Diego.

"Ow!" Eddie cringed.

"Hm. Well good job pointing that out, 'cuz I've never noticed that before." Diego said to Ellie.

"Okay, well, keep telling it!" Eddie exclaimed, somewhat impatiently.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Manny's eyes widened, stunned at the sight directly in front of him.

Sid rounded the corner, holding the baby loosely in his arms. Once he saw the scene he stopped in his tracks. Soto hovered over Diego, claws dangled in the air, preparing to finish Diego off for good, until the baby's whimper drifted soundly through the gusting wind.

Soto's eyes widened with delight, remembering the baby—the reason this whole scene was happening. Sid threw a paw over the baby's mouth, muffling any further sound. The corners of Soto's mouth twisted into a malevolent smile. He proceeded forward toward Sid and the baby.

At that moment, Manny collected himself enough to completely comprehend the situation at hand. He stiffened, feeling all rage toward Soto explode. Tilting his head, he picked up the tiger with his tusks and growled, throwing him into the adjacent wall.

Soto smacked the wall, vibrating the entire rock. Out of the corner of his dazed eye, Soto glanced upward to see multiple heavy, sharp icicles dangling above his head. Bit by bit, each icicle broke off and hurled downward, each stabbing into the stunned tiger below. Hitting him in just the right position with just the right velocity to kill the tiger instantly.

Oscar and Lenny cringed at the sight of their fallen leader. Then, they turned to face Manny, taking in the full size of the mammoth, eyes widening. Manny simply growled one last time at the tigers, Lenny quickly bounded away from the scene, his belly practically tripping himself over his feet. Oscar stole one look to his side realizing that he was alone, he, just as quickly sprung away from the mammoth, the sloth and both of his brothers.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Diego," Manny interrupted, "I'm sorry that I killed Soto. You know, considering that he was your brother and that you two were really friends…"

Diego shook his head, "It's fine. I mean, we were friends, but ever since the human attack, he wasn't really the same anyway. We _were_ friends, but he really _wasn't_ the same. And besides, if you didn't, he would've killed the baby –and me too, so thank you for killing him."

"Okay." Manny replied, "Well, either way, I'm sorry."

"It's really fine." Diego reassured.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ellie asked.

Diego sighed, "Yes. I'm fine, can we please continue the story?"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"We did it!" Sid cheered running up to Manny. The baby cooed softly. Sid looked from Manny, to Diego, and then paused. Slowly, he looked back at the wounded tiger, feeling sadness well up in his chest.

Softly, Manny, Sid and the baby approached the motionless tiger. Diego glanced toward Manny and Sid, completely frozen in pain, he let out a shaky breath. After preparing himself for the pain he would feel as he talked, he spoke up, "We were some team, huh?" He managed, lifting his head, slightly off of the snow.

"_Were?_" Manny replied, staring down hopelessly at his friend, attempting to ignore the blood.

"I'm uh sorry I set you up." Diego said, dropping his head to the snow. All three, Manny, Sid and the baby looked ready to cry, Diego wished he didn't have to see that on their faces. He hated sympathy, but he knew that it wasn't actually sympathy, more like grief. He knew that he made the right decision to save Manny and Sid, at least he could say that he would die with a cleared conscience.

"Ah, you know me I'm too lazy to hold a grudge." Sid said, approaching Diego and setting the baby down to face Diego. Roshan whimpered, stroking Diego's soft nose. "Hey, knock it off, squirt." Diego said, drawing in yet another shallow breath, "You've gotta be strong. You have to take care of Manfred, and Sid… especially Sid."

The baby stared at Diego unsure what to make of the situation. Sid spoke up, "C'mon, you can lick this, you're a _tiger._ Look, I'll carry you. C'mon what do you say? C'mon, Diego, _Come on!_ Tell him he's gonna be okay, Manny."

Diego raised his head again, despite the pain, just to look once more into the baby's eyes. Diego spoke up, aware of his limited amount of time. "Listen," He practically whispered, doing his best to look up at Manny. "You have to leave me here. If those humans get through the pass, you'll never catch them." The baby stared at Manny and the sloth.

Manny stared at Diego. He knew Diego was right, but what could he possibly do? What do you say to someone who just completely gave his life away to save yours without even a second thought? How could he possibly repay Diego for that? By leaving him to die in the snow?

"You didn't have to do that." Manny said, feeling the tears well up in his eyes. It was happening again, he was loosing someone_ again!_

Diego looked over at Manny and answered, "That's what you do in a herd." He glanced at Manny, Sid and the baby for one last time. He wished that he could have actually gotten a good last look at his friends, but at that point he couldn't. _Friends._ Just twenty-four hours ago he would have burst out laughing. Just twenty-four hours ago he fully intended on leading them to Half Peak for revenge and a meal. Just twenty-four hours ago he pictured this situation a lot differently. He was happy though, he made things right.

He set his head down into the cold snow, but at that point everything was completely numb except for the stinging pain in his head, and the stabbing sensation he felt in his stomach. He went to sleep.

The baby whimpered, reaching toward the tiger, completely aware of what had just happened. Manny reached his trunk around the baby in attempt to comfort him. He slowly lifted the kid up and out of the snow. Roshan gradually lowered his reach from the tiger, realizing that Diego was not waking up. Sid and Manny looked at each other with glassy eyes, Diego was now dead. The wind slowed its blowing pace. The snowflakes simply fluttered to the ground. Manny and Sid only stared at their friend. What had just happened in a matter of three days?

A placid silence overtook the area. Manny sighed, "Okay, Sid. Diego's right." He blinked away a few tears. "We should leave if we want to return Pinky."

Sid sniffed, wiping tears from his eyes. "You're right." He said, stumbling forward. "I just can't believe he's gone. I don't even know what happened." He murmured, following Manny. Both Manny and Sid turned to look at Diego one last time, then continued forward.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Aw! Diego, I just want to hug you." Ellie exclaimed.

Diego laughed, "Thanks I—" Before he could continue, Sid interrupted.

"I still can't believe you didn't die from that. You looked really, really bad. And Manny and I were positive that you were dead."

Diego shrugged, he then squinted his glowing green eyes. "I don't know. This is kind of weird to say but retelling everything randomly makes me remember the _dream_ that I had when I was out. But I don't know. I thought that I died too, so it was really weird waking up."

"What _dream?"_ Manny asked.

"Yeah, you never told us about any dream that you had," Sid said, leaning closer into the fire.

"Well, I never remembered having that dream until right now." Diego chuckled, "It's really weird. I mean, it's not really part of the journey we had or anything. But I think now I'm just starting to randomly remember it again."

"Tell us! Tell us!" Eddie cheered.

The wind blew a soft breeze, shuffling the leaves on nearby trees. Diego yawned, "Okay, well… I'll see what I can remember…"

X-X-X-X-X-X

It was warm and dry. There was no snow. He could no longer hear the wind blow, and the pain –the pain was completely gone. He wasn't aware of where he was going on.

Looking ahead, he could see sunlight; fantastic shades of orange, purple, pink, turquoise and yellow tinted the clouds. Did he really die? He could barley recall lying there in the cold snow and seeing the pain on his friends' faces. Was it the same day?

Walking further, Diego realized that there was a shape forming ahead of him. As he approached, he could clearly see a lengthy female human. As he got even closer he could clearly see her. She was the baby's mother that he had chased off of the waterfall.

Her hair was thick and black; it extended itself out in long beachy waves. Her cheeks blossomed in a pink against her dark skin. She looked at Diego and Diego looked back at her. He was completely dumbfounded, unsure of what his next move should be. Her pink lips curled into a smile, even her olive eyes smiled at him.

Diego smiled back at her, still not exactly aware of what had just happened.

The next thing Diego was aware of –it was cold again. Very cold. _'Ow. What the hell?'_ The pain! It was back. The throbbing pain in his head returned. And the pain in his stomach, was now more prominent than ever. What had just happened. Did he really die, or was it all a dream?

X-X-X-X-X

Crash shook his head, "You have the _weirdest_ dreams."

"Heh, yeah, I've noticed." Diego said, "But I'm not sure if it was actually a dream or not. I don't know, it was all really realistic."

"Yeah, that's really weird." Manny commented, "It's cool though that you saw the baby's mother. I don't know. Maybe you were given a second chance?" He suggested.

"You think?"

Sid nodded, "Hm. You're right, Manny. Diego, do you really think that happened?"

Diego shrugged, "Possibly, I mean. I don't think it was just a dream. So... it could've happened. I'm just glad that I got that chance."

**Okay! Yay! So I got this finished quickly! ;D But yes, I know that this chapter was a lot like another story on the site. (Especially with the human mother in Heaven.) But I would have credited that story. I swear that I did not take any of my ideas from that story. I write this how I've always seen it happening! I just have some similar ideas as other writers ;) So please believe me when I say that no ideas were stolen, this is just how I've always viewed the movie! **

**(Oh and sorry its taken me so long to reply to your AMAZING reviews! I'll get those replies out tomorrow! ;) I've just had a very hectic schedule. ) Thanks so much for reading! ;) Please review if you'd like!**


	20. Where are you now?

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry that I've been gone for so long! I know that I've said that before. Lol but ahh its just been so hard to write with school, cheer and my grandpa died in January. So it was kinda hard to get some inspiration then. Lol But I'm back! And… this is (drum roll please) THE LAST CHAPTER :'( I'm actually sad making this the last chapter. But I want to make it good so I sincerely hope that you guys like it! Please let me know! ;) Oh and one more thing, the last chapter that I posted has a mistake that is .CRAZY! So I want to include this in my story so here it is: "**_**Were?**_**" Manny replied, staring down hopelessly at his friend, attempting to ignore the blood. "C'mon, we're still a team." (Sorry, but the fact that I forgot the 'we're still a team thing' was eating me up. Lol! Okay, without further ado, here is the last chapter…**

_Campfire Stories_

_Chapter Twenty-Where are you now?_

"I think we're all glad," Ellie said through her petal soft voice. "Things wouldn't be the same without you here –any of you actually—but, especially without Diego."

"Hey, things wouldn't be the same without me either!" Manny inserted, smirking.

"Of course, baby." Ellie replied, teasingly.

Diego smiled at the group, his elongated fangs radiated orange from the flames. "Stop." He chuckled, turning his gaze toward the ground.

"Diego, are you blushing?" Sid snickered, teasingly.

"No," Diego said, smirking.

"Oh, I think he is." Manny humored. "Aw, Diego. Did Ellie's words just… touch your soul with joy?"

"Heh, shut up." Diego said, with a jack-o-lantern extended across his face.

"Aw, Diego." Ellie mused, getting up, ruffling the fur on his head.

"Stop it."

"Poor tigey-wigey," Sid said, in the same mocking tone he had the first time he uttered that phrase.

"Sid…"

"Aw, those words just tickled your butterflies." Eddie added, receiving a weird look from his brother.

"That didn't even make sense-"

"Okay, okay." Manny said, "Instead of making Diego feel as uncomfortable as possible, I think we should get back to the story." He looked up at the sky, which had changed into a slightly tinted hue of navy. The moon's light elongated a glow down to the ground below, stretching and contorting shadows of the landscape and the animals.

Sid yawned, groggily stretching his arms. A balmy breeze sifted the leaves on a nearby tree. The fresh scent of dew was beginning to form on the surrounding grass. "So, Diego." Sid began, "How did you catch up with us so fast? Weren't you out of it for… a while? We walked for like another two hours."

Diego shook his head, "I guess I'm just a fast walker. But, after I woke up, I just laid in the snow for a few minutes. So… I don't know."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

'Ow. What the hell?' He thought, as reality slowly returned to Diego. It had appeared that a dusting of powder welcomed itself to the tiger's fur while he slept.

Diego let out a soft moan. His senses were taking their time coming back. But the pain had been gracious enough to return full force. The intense slice from Soto, combined with the piercing pain in his head, was simply too agonizing. He actually caught himself wishing that he were dead –but—he was quick to take it back. He then felt another stinging sensation in his right paw. _'Great.'_

He wanted to close his eyes and simply rest there in the snow. It was way too difficult to even breathe. He hastily shut his eyes. He just wanted to lie there in the snow and forget the world. Then, he allowed his mind to wander. He suddenly remembered everything:

Sliding across the ice caves; Sid's campfire; Peek-a-boo; The dodos; The lava; The cave drawings; Chasing the baby's mother off of the falls; Zeke and Oscar the first night with Manny and Sid, "We'll need the whole pack to bring this mammoth down"; "You know, Diego, I never had a friend who would have risked his life for me"; "That's what you do in a herd –you look out for each other"; "Fine, I'll take you down first"; "Okay, so yes he _did_ lie to us. And he _did_ set us up. But, clearly he's changed. I mean, haven't we all changed… somehow in the past few days? Give him a chance!"

Diego forced his eyes open after these memories flooded back to him. He was becoming increasingly aware of his surroundings as well as the intensifying pain. _'What am I doing?'_ He asked himself. He was given a second chance for a reason. How would laying in the snow feeling sorry for himself help anything? Diego shuttered. He moved his paw slightly forward to knock snow off and clenched his teeth in pain. Maybe it would be best to just stay there and rest? After all, Manny and Sid had probably already returned Pinky. Dejectedly resting his head to the ground once again, Diego sighed, _'Wish I could have gotten a proper good bye. He probably won't even remember me…'_ Diego groaned, thinking of the tiny baby, he had to try to catch Manny and Sid. Maybe, hopefully, Sid would be slowing Manny down? Diego chuckled, he hoped so.

The freezing snow only contributed to the immense pain. Freezing was an understatement. Diego prepared himself for the worst pain he would feel possibly in his life. He stood and cursed under his breath at the pain. His right paw faltered slightly. _'Huh. Guess I did something when I was fighting Soto…'_ The thought of Soto. Despite the pain it took to move, Diego edged his paws to face the opposite direction. He stared at his brother.

It was quite a gruesome sight to see Soto lying there –dead—as the icicles blatantly protruded out of him, frozen. Diego felt an empty twinge of sadness overtake his mind, letting out a shaky breath; he knew it was for the best. The Soto he knew –his friend, his brother—had died along with half of his pack. This Soto in front of him was not the Soto he had come to call his brother, this Soto was nothing more than a vengeful shadow of his former self. Diego sighed, the thought did not exactly help anything. Then, he turned away. Forever. He began to follow the now just mere indentations of mammoth and sloth prints. He could just barley detect the faint scent of the two, barley, but it was there. He stepped one paw in front of another, pacing himself. He felt himself walk away from a broken past to an uncertain, yet, exciting and much more reassuring future, hopefully to be spent with his friends.

He left Half Peak, knowing that he needed to quicken his pace if he ever wanted to catch Sid and Manny. Wincing slightly, he continued forward through the pain.

X-X-X-X-X

"Wow." Sid said, "So I guess you did have to walk kind of fast, by yourself, through the snow. That sucks."

"Hah. Yeah, it really did It did." Diego smirked, his eyes, once again illuminating his face. "I slipped so many times on that fricken iced snow." He continued, receiving grins from the other animals around the fire.

"How badly did it hurt?" Crash asked.

"That is an impossible question to answer." Diego said, "I can't even describe that."

"Our walk to Glacier Pass was the most depressing walk I've ever taken." Sid uttered across the fire to Manny.

"It's probably one of the only walks you've ever taken." Eddie snickered. Sid decided to ignore this comment.

"You're telling me." Manny said, "For once, you were completely silent."

"I just didn't know what to say." Sid said, "But the baby was so good."

"He was a tough little guy." Manny agreed, Sid and Diego nodded in response.

"I don't know how he put up with you three." Ellie said with a jingling chuckle.

"Oh yeah, poor kid!" Eddie snickered in agreement.

Sid opened his mouth in defense, but Diego interrupted.

"I miss that kid." Diego said, sighing.

"I think we all do." Manny said.

Another silence overtook the group. The dim firewood cracked, followed by a slight echo. Sid yawned once again and let out a wide stretch, a stretch that forced Diego to duck. "Well, I'm gonna get some more firewood and then we can keep going."

Crash looked at the sky. The stars retained their radiance in the slightly lighter sky. Crickets continued to softly chirp. In the distance, the group could hear Sid getting the firewood. There was a snap and an "Ow!"

Diego and Manny looked at each other and laughed.

"I see nothing funny about that." Sid muttered, returning to the fire.

"So guys, now what?" Ellie asked the group.

"Well," Sid began as he adjusted the firewood, "I guess I can take it from when we started walking away from Half Peak. It was hard…"

X-X-X-X-X-X

As Sid followed Manny further from Half Peak, he couldn't help but feel a deep sinking feeling festering inside of him. He never had friends like Diego or Manny. He could honestly never think of one instance in his life where he felt as close to "friends" as he had in the past three days.

Sid sniffed, wiping away newly developed tears. Now, Diego was out of the world –forever, one of his only friends, who he only became close to the previous day. Sid lifted his gaze to the musty grayish white sky that continued to drop snowflakes on the group. Diego was up there –just past the flat grey clouds. Somehow, that thought was still unsettling.

Diego was gone. _'Well. At least I still have Manny… Not too sure for how long though…'_

This was unbearable. He couldn't stand to live by himself. He wouldn't. It was way too lonely. First, his herd migrates without him for a third consecutive year. Then, he meets up with Manny who only tolerated him because he knew there would be no way to get rid of him. Then, he finally becomes close to both Manny and Diego and Diego ends up getting killed protecting the baby, Manny and himself. And now they were going to return Pinky and then what? Wouldn't Manny want to go separate ways from then on? He could only hope that was not the case, but that's all anybody who came into his life eventually ended up doing.

X-X-X-X-X

"Aw, Sid." Ellie murmured across the fire.

"Hey, Sid." Manny spoke up, "Even if Diego didn't make it, I would have stayed with you."

Sid smiled, "Thanks. I know that now. I guess then, the whole idea of having 'real friends' was still new to me. But thanks for being there for me guys—both of you," with a glance around the fire, he corrected himself, "All of you, actually."

"Anytime." Manny and Diego said in unison, then proceeded to exchange weird glances at each other.

"We're all here for you Sid." Ellie chimed in.

"Yeah, yeah. This is all very touching, but come on guys. Let's finish the story!" Eddie demanded.

"Yeah, really I need to know what happens."

"Okay, okay." Manny continued, "You guys are probably right. I bet the sun is probably gonna come out soon." Manny said, looking at the light navy sky with the melting stars, moonlight, blurring across the sky.

Diego yawned. "Have we really been telling the story for that long?"

"I think so." Manny said, "It's getting lighter-"

"Less talking, more story…ing." Eddie commanded.

"Story telling!" Crash corrected.

"Well aren't you smart." Eddie sarcastically said, rolling his eyes.

"Guys…" Ellie began, shooting each of them a warning glare.

"Okay, fine, more story-telling." Manny said, clearing his throat.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Manny solemnly walked next to Sid. The baby had eventually whimpered himself to sleep. How could he have let this happen? How could he just leave Diego there in the snow to die? Manny thought, constantly turning his head to look behind him –just incase by some miracle Diego would be following behind them. Each time he turned around, however, served as a worsening disappointment.

He could never forgive himself for leaving Diego behind in the snow. Never. He felt tears welling his eyes, each time he would use his trunk to wipe them away, but it was only a matter of moments before tears would reappear and he would repeat the process once again.

Manny drew in a large breath and smiled, faintly, remembering the cave drawings, the time that he could swear he had heard his son's voice. Manny simply couldn't stand the thought of death. He had already lost his family. Now one of his closest friends? He gazed at his feet as he trudged through the snow. _'I'm not gonna get over this.'_ He somberly declared to himself. _'Never.'_

Sighing, he looked to his side at Sid. Sid, feeling Manny's gaze, immediately faced him. The air was even completely dismal as it rustled the animals' fur gently. The only sound present was the crunching of the snow beneath their feet. Everything else was silent.

Manny was so confused. Nothing in his life was the way that it used to be these past few days. He became friends with someone who had, initially, irritated the crap out of him. Then, he became friends with this devious tiger who he thought couldn't be trusted. He chuckled, slightly. Sid was right, everybody in the group changed somehow the past few days.

Manny remembered the day at the cave drawings like it was only yesterday. Actually, he couldn't believe it, but it was only yesterday. He could all too clearly recount his son's voice saying: "Me and Mommy want to see you happy." A sensation reassured him that Diego would want no different. He smiled, unsteadily, looking down at the sleeping baby in his trunk. This little baby had done a lot for him—for all of them actually—even though he was most likely not aware of it.

Manny gently squeezed the sleeping baby. "You'll be with your daddy soon, kid."

"What?" Sid asked.

"Oh, nothing." Manny responded, "Just talking to Pinky."

Sid smiled, "He's such a good little guy."

Manny nodded, but didn't respond. But when Manny didn't respond, he could always count on Sid to begin a new topic.

"Manny." Sid spoke.

"Yeah Sid?"  
It took a moment for the sloth to respond. "I don't know. I just couldn't stand the silence."

Manny chuckled slightly at Sid. How had he allowed those two to get so close to him? That was the only problem with having such close friends. You risk loosing them.

"Manny," Sid spoke up once more. "I just thought that I'd let you know. Last night. I talked to Diego. And I told him that I never had a friend who would have risked his life for me like you did with the lava. Anyway… Diego said that you were a good guy."

Manny paused, and looked Sid squarely in the eye.

"I don't know." Sid said, "Maybe I'm just rambling."

Manny was attempting not to choke himself up. He didn't save Diego for the gratitude, he saved Diego simply because he needed to save Diego. It was probably the same reason Diego had just sacrificed himself earlier. "No, Sid. You're not rambling." Manny said. "Thanks for telling me that. Really. I appreciate it."  
The sloth smiled with glassy eyes.

"Diego was a good guy." Manny continued. "And, actually today, he was that friend who risked his life for you. For all of us."

Sid's mouth almost formed a smile, it was true. "Oh Manny, look who's awake now."

Manny felt the warm baby stir and begin to coo. "Alright Pinky." Manny said, "You can ride on top." He hoisted the baby up to his back.

"How much longer?" Sid asked.

Manny stared in the distance, "Probably not too much."

X-X-X-X-X-X

"Guys, I feel like I'm at my funeral or something." Diego remarked.

Ellie laughed at the comment. "Well, Diego now you know just how much you guys care about each other."

A sudden wind blew; arousing the loose leaves on the tree Crash and Eddie were currently residing in, causing some to drop. Eddie made an attempt to catch one of the falling leaves, and instead he fell from the branch he was on.

Crash laughed "Nice move, bro."

"Ow…" Eddie murmured, scrambling back to his feet. "Can we get back to the story, please?"

Manny laughed, "Alright. But just to warn you three, we're almost at the end. So, I think that is the last interruption of the night. "

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Manny and Sid, for the next few minutes remained –

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Interruption!" Crash exclaimed.

Manny turned to Crash, "Would you grow up?" The two possums laughed. "Okay. Let's count _that _as, officially, the last interruption of the night.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Manny and Sid walked somewhat silently for the next few minutes. There was an intermittent gurgle from the baby, as orange rays began to break through the clouds. The sky transformed from a dark grey to a milky yellow accented with light blue undertones.

Manny didn't want to even think about giving the baby up. This day was already too much for him to handle. He sighed, _'I guess it's what's best for Pinky.'_

Light flakes drifted down to the blanketed ground. Both Manny and Sid held their breath as they noticed the group of humans they were approaching.

"They have their spears. I think I just might faint." Sid remarked.

"They're not gonna hurt us, Sid." Manny replied.

The baby's father, Runar, stood behind his tribe momentarily, he had a strange notion of something behind him, but could only see the bright sunset reflecting off of its completely white surroundings. He knelt down to a rock that was powdered over with snow and gently placed a carefully beaded necklace, strung with delicate shells and animal teeth, on the top of it. Both his wife and son were dead. Defeated, he gazed at the ground for a good few moments. Slowly, he stood, and began to follow his tribe once again.

A glance over his shoulder, however, stopped him in mid stride. He began to see the form of a mammoth and a sloth appear from the other side of the hill. The mammoth was close, and he towered over the human. Runar simply stood gazing at the enormous mammoth. Manny stopped in his tracks, merely feet away from Runar. Sid, noticing Runar's spear, stood a few feet behind Manny.

Manny figured it was time, he reached up to his back, while Runar apprehensively armed his spear. Manny could feel Sid cringe behind him. Manny steadily gripped the spear with his trunk. Runar grunted, in futile attempt to free his spear away from the mammoth's grasp.

Just as Manny was doing so, the wolves leading the group of humans snarled, detected the unwelcome scent of mammoth and sloth, alerting the entire tribe to the imminent danger Runar was in. Out of the corner of his eye, Manny saw the humans charge, spears fully armed and, quickly, withdrew the spear from Runar's hands and tossed it aside. Uneasily, Runar glimpsed stared at his tribe members as they began to ran toward Manny.

Sid flinched, expecting the worst, but Manny simply revealed Pinky, who greeted his father's familiar face with a coo. "A-ya!"

Happiness and utter disbelief overflowed Runar's mind. Was it really? It was his son. The mammoth and sloth were returning his son!

In an instant motion, Runar turned to face his tribe, arms up, signaling them to fall back. The sight of the mammoth holding his son caused the barking to die down, and the men to gradually lower their spears in shared disbelief.

Sid at that moment, fainted.

_'Show him what you learned.'_ Manny thought, steadily setting Roshan on his legs, with nothing more than a slight bobble.

Runar ecstatically, bent down, encouraging his son to come his way. Tottering from one foot to another, the baby shuffled over to his father who immediately embraced him in a sentimental, long overdue hug. The baby cooed, touching his dad's memorable face.

Sid raised himself up from the snow just soon enough to see the sight in front of him. A goofy, happy smile etched across his face at the happy ending.

The pair of animals simply watched as father and son rubbed noses, and then embraced each other in another hug. Manny, overcome with emotion, smiled at the sight of father and son together at last, watching as the human herd surrounded the two.

Manny smiled as the now conscious Sid appeared by his side. He tilted his head to look up at Manny, who turned to go. Taking one last gaze at Pinky and his father, Sid followed Manny. They had done the right thing.

The baby 's dark green eyes enlarged as he peered over his father's shoulder. He extended a tiny arm and cried out to the retreating mammoth and sloth. The two turned around in response to the familiar sound. With arched eyebrows and rounded cheeks the baby cooed as his father turned, uneasily setting Roshan down to say final goodbyes to the animals that had saved his life. Tottering confidently, he quickly made his way back to Manny and Sid. Sid, like so many times before picked the baby up, squeezing the baby gently in his shoulder. "Don't forget about us. Okay?" Sid asked, sniffling.

Gently, Manny took the child in his trunk, looking down at those familiar apple eyes he said finally, "We won't forget about you." Beaming, the baby snuggled into Manny's fur. After a few moments, Manny returned the baby to his father for good. Runar smiled at the feeling of his son in his arms. Bending down, he took the necklace his wife had crafted off of the rock. How could he ever repay these animals for what they had done? This would be symbol of his thanks.

He placed the necklace on Manny's tusk. Manny looked at the small artifact, touching it lightly with his trunk, he and the baby's father exchanged teary smiles. He looked down to Sid who also exchanged a smile, then turned his gaze to the baby and his father as they walked away one last time. The baby waved a small, pudgy arm at the animals.

"Goodbye," Sid called after the humans, sniffing, "Goodbye, bye."

"Sid." Manny interjected.

"Bye." He continued to call.

The baby's face lit up, covering and uncovering his eyes to play one last game of peek-a-boo.

"That's right," Sid responded playing along, "Where's the baby?"

"C'mon, Sid," Manny said, turning around, "Let's head south—" Manny stopped in mid sentence. He did not, could not, believe his eyes. There was a sudden flash of fur. The familiar flash of this tawny fur, accompanied by patches of white surrounding his eyes and mouth, the familiar fangs, had stretched into an ecstatic grin, as the figure limped forward. Suddenly, everything was set right. Diego was alive.

With perfect timing, almost as if the event had been a pre-planned miracle, the baby uncovered his eyes, to the welcome sight of the memorable saber smiling back at him. His pink hands happily curled over his father's shoulder.

Diego, feeling a surge of bliss overtake himself. He was with Manny and Sid now. He was getting to say goodbye to the baby. This was his second chance, and suddenly, Diego knew he had made the right decision. He covered his eyes. Moments later, he uncovered them, playing his last game of peek-a-boo with Pinky. His emerald eyes glowed as he waved goodbye to Roshan, who smiled, setting his head to his father's shoulder as he waved. He closed his eyes and smiled, then the humans disappeared.

Sid routinely sobbed, "Bye… bye…"

Diego slowly approached Sid, "Save your breath Sid. You know humans can't talk."

Sid's heart skipped about a hundred beats. Whirling around, he knew that voice. "Diego!" He exclaimed, "You're okay!" He cheered, rushing to the tiger.

"Nine lives, baby!" The tiger exclaimed, lively.

"Yay!" He cheered, talking the tiger, and giving him a quite rough nougie. "You're okay! You're okay!" He repeated, punching the tiger conveniently on, his injured leg.

"Ahh!" Diego moaned in pain.

"AH! I could kiss ya!" Sid exclaimed, taking Diego by the teeth, "Muh, muh, muh, muh! Ack! Yuck." Sid cringed, pawing off his tongue.

"Well welcome back partner," Manny said, smiling, "Want a lift?" He offered, motioning to his back.

"No thanks." Diego responded, grinning. "I've gotta save whatever dignity I've got left."

"You're hanging out with us now buddy, dignity's got _nothing _to do with it… but I'll take that lift." Sid said, grinning hopefully up at Manny.

"Yeah. Clime aboard." Manny offered, as Sid hopped on his back, laughing.

"Pick me up, buddy. YEAHHH Mush!" He commanded the mammoth, receiving strange looks from both of his friends. "Or, not mush. Either way." Sid shrugged. Manny shook his head, smiling, Diego did the same and the herd turned to leave. Walking away into the peachy blue sunset.

"This is going to be the best migration ever!" Sid continued, "I'm telling ya, I'll show ya all of my favorite watering holes. You know, I turn brown when the fungus in my fur dries out."

"Sounds very attractive." Manny remarked.

"You know, this whole Ice Age thing's getting old. You know what I could go for? Global warming!"

"Oy." Manny muttered.

"Keep dreaming!" Diego replied.

"No, really! We'll have a luau!" He exclaimed, and proceeded to talk for the rest of the journey down south.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"And from there, it took us a while," Manny finished, "but we just went south."

"WOO!" Crash and Eddie applauded.

"Encore, encore!" Crash demanded.

"Well, you guys, that was wonderful!" Ellie exclaimed, "I never knew you three had such a great story to tell."

"Well, we warned you it was going to be a long story." Manny reminded.

"Uh- yeah, it literally took all night, look." Diego said, motioning to the lightening sky. A few faded beams of orange, yellow and pink began to dart across the sky.

"Is that the sun?" Sid said.

"Naw, its just an orange rainbow." Crash responded sarcastically.

"I can't believe the sun is rising already!" Ellie exclaimed.

"Yeah. And I'm going to bed." Diego said, yawning.

"Me too." Sid said. "Good morning."

"Me three."

"Me four!"

Came the voices of the twins. Ellie chuckled.

"I dunno, guys, I think I'm just gonna stay up. I'm not really tired anymore." Manny said.

"What? You were the one complaining about how tired you were through the whole time." Ellie said.

"Yeah, well… now I'm awake." Manny said.

"Well, Crash and Eddie aren't." Diego said, motioning to the two possums snoring on the ground.

Ellie smirked at the sight of her brothers.

Diego stretched, approaching Manny, with Sid not too far behind him. The three all stared ahead in random directions. "You know, guys." Sid remarked, "I never realized how little events can have such a big impact on how… life in general turns out. Ya know?"

The two simply stared at the sloth, surprised at this sudden philosophical reflection. "Like, Manny, if you didn't pull that baby out of the water, Diego would have taken him back to Soto to be killed. And Diego, you'd be a… a big jerk right now if it weren't for that baby. And Manny, you'd have just probably abandoned me eventually and I would have been killed by those rhinos… or some other animal that I happen to piss off."

Diego smirked, "It's true. That kid did do a lot for us… I miss him, and playing peek-a-boo."

Manny chuckled, "You're right, Sid. Guys, I wonder where he is now…" The three stared off across the landscape, the warm sun grew higher in the sky, beaming down on the valley, adding to it new color and life.

X-X-X-X-X-X

A now three-year-old Roshan woke to a blinding beam of light that squeezed itself through a small peek in the tent where he was sleeping. He rubbed his eyes, with his not so chubby anymore, hands. He smiled at the sun, and turned to his side where he noticed his father was still sleeping. He stood up, a child with green sparks for eyes, and messy black hair.

He opened the tent and crept out. He always liked to wake up early and sneak out of the tent in the mornings. After many failed attempts, he now became a master at sneaking past the wolves. He grinned widely, the baby now had all of his teeth. The night before, his father told him about how his mother had been killed, and about how he had been returned, days later by a kind mammoth and sloth. The child continued to walk, as he made his way toward a small stream that wasn't too far from camp. But Roshan could swear, he distinctly remembered that there was a tiger with the mammoth and sloth. Even though his father and other tribe members told him that he was wrong, he knew he was right. He wrinkled his nose, trying to envision a tiger, a sloth and a mammoth in his head.

He grabbed a jagged, pink stone in his hands and threw it as far as he could into the water and giggled at the loud splash and large ripple it created. Looking up at the sun and puffy orange clouds, he said to himself, "I wonder where they are now."

**Wow, guys. I've gotta be honest here. I teared up writing this ending. :( I just can't believe that it's my last chapter. But seriously, I can't thank any of you enough for your gracious, kind, supportive words through this whole story. I know I've had some gaps between updates. But your kind and encouraging words kept me going and you guys are THE ONLY reason I was able to finish. Some complicated things came up before I wrote this chapter, but I got it done! I've been so blessed to make such great friends on this site! All of you are wonderful and this whole thing has been for you! God bless you all! Please review if you'd like! Until my next story, this story! ;) Campfire stories is finally completed! :)3 **


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